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I 2j J?^. H^^.^S
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WORDS AND PLACES.
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WORDS AND PLACES:
OB,
ETYMOLOGICAL ILLUSTRATIONS
OF
HISTORY, ETHNOLOGY, AND GEOGRAPHY.
Rev. ISAAC TAYLOR, M.A.
SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED.
2ltonbon anb Cambribgt:
MACMILLAN AND CO.
^' Digitized by VjOOQIC
[ 77te Rig/iU of Tramlation and Reproduction are resented J\
Loudon :
R. Cia}\ Son, and Taylor, Prtnters,
Bread Street Hill.
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PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
The First Edition of this book having been rapidly
exhausted, I have been encouraged by its favourable
reception to spare no labour which might make this
Second Edition more complete and trustworthy.
Various errors have been detected, and while new
matter to the extent of more than sixty pages has been
introduced, a slight typographical re-arrangement has
prevented any increase in the absolute bulk of the
volume. In endeavouring to secure increased accuracy
and completeness, I have derived much valuable aid
from the suggestions of many hitherto unknown corre-
spondents, as well as from the able and careful reviews
which have appeared in the literary journals.
My especial thanks, however, are due to the writers of
two very able articles which appeared respectively in the
Quarterly Review and the Times newspaper. I have also
to thank a Saturday Reviewer for pointing out some
oversights, though I regret that while professing an
almost fanatical theoretic love for accuracy of detail, he
should, in his article, have exhibited so many conspicuous
illustrations of the practical difficulty of attaining it.
For instance, he quotes a passage where I say, " On Brent
Knoll, near Athelney, in Somersetshire, is a camp which
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vi Preface to the Second Edition.
tradition ascribes to Alfred, and near the foot of the hill
stands the village of BATTLEBURY." The Reviewer re-
marks that this " statement contains more mistakes than
there are lines. Brent Knoll is not near Athelney.
Battlebury is not a village, but a mound ; nor is it near
either Brent Knoll or Athelney." I certainly do not
possess the advantage which the reviewer apparently
enjoys of residing in Somersetshire, but «till I must
maintain that I am altogether right, and that he is
altogether wrong. Gough, one of our safest topo-
graphical authorities, asserts that Battlebury is '* a village,"
and that it is near the foot of Brent Knoll. The Ord-
nance Survey, which spells the name in the alternative
form, Battleborough, places it exactly at the foot of
Brent Knoll — half-a-mile from the summit of the hill.
Moreover, it makes Battleborough not a mound, but a
hamlet of ten houses. Brent Knoll is about half-a-day s
march from Athelney, which may fairly be called ^ near,"
when my object was to suggest that the camp on Brent
Knoll might without improbability be regarded as having
been an outpost of Alfred's head-quarters at Athelney.
I should be glad, were it worth the space, to examine
other supposed corrections of this reviewer, but to do
so would be wearisome and profitless. A few of his
suggestions I have thankfully accepted ; with regard to
the rest, I must demur to his assumed infallibility both
in matters of opinion and of fact.
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PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
Nearly two years have passed since this volume was
first announced as ready for the press. At that time it
did not seem premature to make such an announcement,
inasmuch as ten years had been devoted, more or less,
to the collection of materials, and the several chapters
of the work had been written, and in great part re-
written.
The delay that has occurred in the publication will
easily be understood and accounted for by those who
have been engaged on fields of research where new and
untrodden paths are continually inviting exploration,
and where many commonly-received opinions require to
be examined anew, and perhaps to be corrected in
accordance with later or more exact investigation. Some
limit, however, must be assigned to such inquiries, which
might otherwise be pursued endlessly. In truth, the
volume has already far exceeded the size that was at
first intended for it, and therefore, such as it has become,
it is now put into the reader's hand.
The design of the work, and an outline of its contents,
are sufficiently set forth in the Introductory Chapter, and
need not therefore be spoken of in this place.
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viii Preface to t/ie First Edition,
It may appear strange that a subject so fertile in sug-
gestive materials should not already have received due
attention from any competent English student. Since
the publication, two centuries ago, of Verstegan's Resti-
tution of Decayed Intelligence in Antiquities y no work has
appeared in England bearing any great resemblance to
the present one. There are, it is true, a few alphabetical
lists of geographical etymologies: — such are Baxter's
crude collection of ingenious conjectures and wild ety-
mological dreams, and Skinner's Etymologicon Onomas^
ticony a far more safe and sober guide. Of more recent
date are Mr. Chamock's Local Etymology, a book ex-
hibiting some research, but no critical faculty whatever,
and a few small school-books, of greater or less value, by
Messrs. Sullivan, Gibson, Morris, Hughes, Boardman, and
Adams. These, however, being all arranged on the al-
phabetical plan, are as unreadable, as they are, for the
most part, untrustworthy.
On the Continent, in Germany especially, subjects
allied to that of this volume have been copiously and
eruditely treated by such men as Jacob Grimm, Pott,
Zeuss, Forstemann, Wilhelm Von Humboldt, Diefenbach,
Knobel, Renan, and Pictet It will be obvious that the
author has derived great aid in the accomplishment of his
task from the labours of these distinguished scholars,
whose acknowledged learning, accuracy, ingenuity, and
caution need no commendation from him. Leo, Gliick,
Buttmann, and De Belloguet, though lesser stars abroad,
would in England be luminaries of the first magnitude.
There are also numerous monographs of great value
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Preface to tJie First Edition, ix
hidden in the transactions of foreign academies : — ^such
are the essays of Vilmar, Piderit, Massmann, Petersen,
and Meyer, with which the English monographs of Fer-
guson, Hartshome, and Monkhouse are worthy to rank.
The somewhat dangerous works of Dr. Donaldson and
Dr. Latham have been used with caution, and have con-
tributed useful materials and suggestions.
The author cannot allow himself to suppose that, in
writing upon a subject which ranges over so wide and
various a field, he has always been successful in his en-
deavour to avoid errors. He can only make this statement
— ^that he has laboriously aimed at accuracy, both in
advancing general statements, and in making references
to the authorities which he cites. It is, perhaps, un-
necessary to state that the common but objectionable
practice of quoting at second hand has in no case been
adopted without the reader's attention being expressly
drawn to the fact. For the convenience of those who
may feel inclined to pursue any of the lines of research
which are indicated in the notes, a Bibliographical List
has been compiled, enumerating the exact titles and
editions of the books consulted.
In conclusion, the author has the agreeable task of
acknowledging his obligations to those who have given
him the benefit of their special acquaintance with certain
departments of his subject. The chapters relating to
the Semitic languages have been kindly revised by the
Venerable Archdeacon Tattam, D.D. LLD.; by the
Rev. H. G. Williams, B.D. Professor of Arabic at Cam-
bridge ; and by E. Stanley Poole, Esq. The chapter on
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X Preface to the First Edition,
Celtic names has been annotated by the Rev. John
Davies, M.A. while Professor Donkin, of Queen's Collie,
Liverpool, has given the benefit of his acquaintance with
the Sanskrit and the Romance languages. G. P. Marsh,
Esq. the United States Minister at Turin, has contri-
buted most useful bibliographic information, and has
also communicated observations of his own upon the
ethnology of Northern Italy ; and the Rev. S. A. Brooke,
Chaplain to the British Embassy at Berlin, has given
constant literary aid, and has made numerous valuable
suggestions during the progress of the work. Lastly, the
Author's thanks are due to the authorities at the Topo-
graphic Department of the Royal Engineers, and at the
library of the Royal Geographical Society, who have
afforded every facility for the consultation of their ex-
tensive collections of ancient and modern maps.
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE SIGNIFICANCY OF LOCAL NAMES.
PAGE
Local Names always significant, and possessed of great vitality —
Some dcj^riptive — Geological value of such names — Othen con-
serve ethnological and historical facts, or illustrate the state of
civilization or religion in past times i
CHAPTER IL
NAMES OF RECENT ORIGIN.
Colonization of America — Greenland — Leif Ericson — Columbus —
Religioas feeling in the Names given by the Spaniards and by
the Puritans— Salem — Providence — The Quaker Colony — ^Native
Indian Names—The Elizabethan worthies: Frobisher, Davis,
Baffin, Hudson, Drake, and Gilbert — Adventures of Captain
Smith — ^The French plantations — The Dutch in North and South
America — Magalhaens — Spanish and Portuguese discoveries — ^The
Dutch in the South Seas— New Zealand and New Holland —
Recent Arctic discoveries 9
CHAPTER HI.
THE ETHNOLOGICAL VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES.
Local names are the beacon-lights of primeval History — The method
of research illustrated by American Names — Recent progress of
Ethnology — ^The Celts, Anglo-Saxons, and Northmen — Retro-
cession of the Sclaves —Arabic Names — Ethnology of mountain
districts— The Alps 36
CHAPTER IV.
THE NAMES OF NATIONS.
Ethnic Names are of obscure origin— Name of Britain — Many nations
bear duplicate names — Deutsche and Germans — " Barbarians" —
Welsh — Gaels— Aryans — ^Names of conquering Tribes — Ancient
Ethnic Names conserved in those of modem cities — Ethnic Names
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xii ' Contents.
PAGE
from rulers— From geographical position— Europe — Asia — Africa
— Ethnographic Names — "Warriors" — "Mountaineers" — " Low-
landers"— ** Foresters"— "Coastlanders" — ^Greeks 53
CHAPTER V.
THE FHCENICIANS.
Physical character of Phoenician sites — ^Tyre — Sidon — Phenice —
Phomician colonies in Crete, Cypras, Sardinia, Corsica, Italy,
Sicily, Malta, Africa, Spain, and Britain 89
CHAPTER VI.
THE ARABS IN EUROPE.
The Empire of the Cailiphs — Arabic Names in Southern Italy and
Sicily — Tribes by which the -conquest of Sicily was effected — Con-
quest of Spain — ^Tarifa and Gibraltar — ^The Arabic article — River-
names of Spain — Arabs in Southern France — ^They hold the passes
of the Alps —The Monte Moro pass and its Arabic Names — ^The
Muretto pass and Pontresina . 99
CHAPTER VII.
THK ANGLO-SAXONS-
England is the land of indosures— This denoted by the character of
Anglo-Saxon Names which end in "ton,** **yard," "worth,"
"fold," "hay," and "bury"— Ham, the home— The Patronymic
" ing" — ^Teutonic clans — Saxon colony near Boulogne — ^The Saxon
settlement in England began before the departure of the Romans —
Early Frisian settlement in Yorkshire — Litus Saxonicum near Caen
— German village-names in France and in Italy — Patronymics in
Westphalia, Franconia, and Swabia — Seat of the "Old-Saxons" . 117
CHAPTER VIII.
THE NORTHMEN.
Incursions of the Northmen — Norse test- words: "by," "thorpe,"
"toft," "ville," "garth," "ford," " wick"— Vestiges of the
Danes near the Thames — Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Lincoln-
shire— ^The Danelagh — Norwegians in Sutherland, the Orkneys,
Shetlands, Hebrides, and Isle of Man — Cumberland and West-
moreland— ^The Wirall— Colony in Pembrokeshire— Devonshire
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Contents. xiii
PAOK
and the South Coast — Northmen in Ireland — Intensity of the
Scandinavian element in different parts of England — ^Northmen m
France — Names in Normandy — Norse Names in Spain, Sicily, and
the Hellespont— Local vestiges of the Anglo-Norman conquest—
Anglo-Nonnan nobles in Scotland I5S
CHAPTER IX.
THE CELTS.
Prevalence of Celtic Names in Europe — Antiquity of River-names —
The roots Avon, Dur, Stour, Esk, Rhe, and Don^Myth of the
Danaides — Hybrid composition, and reduplication of synonyms —
Adjectival river-names : the Yare, Alne, Ban, Douglas, Leven,
Tame, Aire, Cam, and Clyde — ^Celtic mountain names : cefn, pen,
cenn, dun — Names of Rocks — Valleys — Lakes — Dwellings —
Cjrmric and Gadhdic test-words — Celts in Galatia— Celts in Ger-
many, France, and Spain — Euskarian Names— Gradual retro-
cession of Celts in England — Amount of the Celtic element —
Division of Scotland between the Picts and Gaels — Inverand Aber
—Ethnology of the Isle of Man 193
CHAPTER X.
THE HISTORIC VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES.
Contrast between Roman and Saxon civilization, as shown by Local
Names— Roman roads — "Gates" — Bridges and fords— Celtic
bridges — Deficiency of inns — Cold Harbour — ^Saxon dykes —
Roman vralls — Saxon forts — "Bury" — Ancient camps — Chester,
caster, and caer — Stations of the Roman Legions — Frontier dis-
tricts— Castile — The Mark— Pfyn, Devises — Ethnic shire-names of
England — ^Intrusive colonization 249
CHAPTER XL
THE STREET-NAMES OF LONDON.
The walls of Old London— Gradual extension of the town — Absorp-
tion of surrounding villages— The brooks: the Holbom, the
Tyburn, and the Westbourne — ^Wells, conduits, ferries — Monastic
establishments of London — Localities of certain trades — Sports
and pastimes — Sites of residences of historic families preserved in
the names of streets — ^The Palaces of the Strand— Elizabethan
London — Streets dating from the Restoration * 272
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XIV Contents,
CHAPTER XII.
HISTORIC SITES.
PACE
Places of Popular assembly — Runnimede — Moot-hill — Detmold —
The Scandinavian " things " or parliaments — ^The Thingvellir of
Iceland — ^Tbe Thingwalls and Dingwells of Great Britain —
Tynwald Hill in the Isle of Man— Battle-fields : Lichfield, Battle,
Slaughter— Conflicts with the Danes — Eponymic Names — Myths
of Early English History — Carisbrooke — Hengist and Horsa— Cissa
— MWt — Cerdic — Oflfa — Maes Garmon — British Chieftains —
Valetta — Alexander— Names of the Roman Emperors— Modem
Names of this dass 290
CHAPTER XIII.
SACRED SITES.
Local Vestiges of Saxon Heathendom — Tiw, Frea, Woden, Thor,
Balder— Celtic Deities— Teutonic Demigods— Wayland Smith —
Old Scratch— Old Nick— The Nightmare— Sacred groves and
temples — Vestiges of Sclavonic Heathendon — The Classic Pan-
theon— Conversion of the Northern Nations — Paulinus at Good-
manham— " Llan " and '*Kir'— The Hennits of the Hebrides
—The Local Saints of Wales — Places of Pilgrimage —The Monastic
Houses 320
CHAPTER XIV.
PHYSICAL CHANGES ATTESTED BY LOCAL NAMES.
The nature of geological changes — The valley of the Thames once
a lagoon filled with islets — Thanet once an island — Reclamation
of Romney Marsh — Newhaven — Somersetshire — The Traeth Mawr
— ^The Carse of Gowrie — Loch Maree — ^The Fens of Cambridge-
shire— ^The Isle of Axholme — Silting-up of the Lake of Geneva —
Increase of the Delta of the Po — Volcanoes — Destruction of
ancient Forests — Icelandic Forests — The Weald of Kent —
Increase of Population — Populousness of Saxon England — ^The
nature of Saxon husbandry — English vineyards— Extinct animals :
the wolt badger, auroch, and beaver — Ancient Salt Works —
Lighthouses— Changes in the relative commercial importance of
towns 347
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Contents. xv
CHAPTER XV.
CHANGES AND ERRORS.
YAOS
Vitality of Local Names — Recurrence to Ancient Names— Changes
in Names often simply phonetic — Lincoln — Sarum — Whitehall —
Phonetic corruptions among savage tribes — Interchange of suffixes
of analogous sound — ^Tendency to contraction — Laws of Phonetic
change — ^ExampIes— Influence of popular etymological speculation
on the forms of Names — ^Tendency to make Names significant —
Examples — Transformation of French Names — Invention of new
Saints from Local Names — Transformed names often give rise
to legends — Bozra — Thongcastle — ^The Dun Cow — Antwerp — ^The
Mouse Tower— The Amazons of the Baltic— Pilatus — The Picts —
The Tatars — Poland— Mussulman — Negropont— Corruptions of
Street-Names — America— The Gypsies 375
CHAPTER XVL
WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES.
Growth of words out of names — Process of transformation— Ex-
amples: cherry, peach, chestnut, walnut, quince, damson,
Guernsey lily, currant, shallot, coffee, cocoa, and rhubarb —
Tobacco— Names of , wines and liqueurs— Gin, negus, and grog
—Names of animals : turkey, ermine, sable — Breeds of horses —
Fish — ^Names of Minerals: loadstone, magnet, agate, jet, nitre,
ammonia— Textile fabrics — Manufactures of the Arabs: muslin,
damask, gauze, fustian — Manufactures of the Flemings : cambric,
diaper, duck, ticking, frieze — Republics of Northern Italy — Cravats
— Worsted — Names of vehicles — The coach — Names of weapons —
Inventions called from the name of the inventor — Pasquinade,
punch, haxlequin, charlatan, vaudeville — Mythical derivations —
Names of coins — Moral significance attached to words derived
from Ethnic Names— Examples : Gothic, bigot, cretin, frank,
romance, gasconade, lumber, ogre, fiend, slave — Names of servile
Races — Tariff— Cannibal — Assassin — Spruce— Words derived from
the practice of pilgrimage : saunter, roam, canter, fiacre, tawdry,
flash — History of the word palace 402
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xvi Contents.
CHAPTER XVII.
ONOMATOLOGY ; OR, THE PRINCIPLES OF NAME GIVING.
PAOK
Dangers which beset the Etymologist —Rules of Investigation —
Names in the United States— List of some of the chief components
of Local Names 453
APPENDIX A.
List of Names of ancient Tribes preserved in the Names of Modem
Cities and Provinces . . ' 4S9
APPENDIX B.
Comparison of Saxon Patronymics in Artois and in England . . . 491
Comparison of Patronymics in England, France, and Germany . . 496
INDICES.
Index of Local Names 514
Index of Matters 538
MAPS.
Chromolithographic Map of the settlements of the Celts, Saxons,
Danes, and Norwegians in the British Isles and Northern France. i
Sketch-Map showing the distribution of Arabic names in Spain and
Portugal 105
Sketch-Map of the Saxon colony in Picardy and Artois .... 132
Sketch-Map showing the Teutonic settlements in France .... 145
Sketch-Map showing the settlements of the Northmen in Normandy 185
♦»* In these Maps each dot represents the position of an ethnographic
local name.
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BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST OF BOOKS
CONSULTED.
Abela, F. Giovanfrancesco :— Malta
lUustratay awero descrizione di
Malta, Isola del Mare Siciliano e
AdriatuOy con sue antichiti^ ed
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Malta, 1772.
Adami, M. Canonid Bremensis —
Ubdlus de situ Dania. (Elzevir. )
24mo. Lugduni Batavonim, 1629.
Addnng, Johann Christoph, und
Vater : — Mitkridaies ; oder allge-
meine Sprachenkunde, 4 vols.
8vo. Bert. 1806, 1809, 1 81 7.
Alcock, Sir Rutherford : — The
Capital of the Tycoon ; a Narra-
tive of a Three Years^ Residence
in Japan. 2 vols. 8vo. Lond.
1863.
Amari, Michele: — Storia dei Musul-
mani di Sicilia. 2 vols. 8vo.
Firenze, 1854— 1858.
Ammiani Marcellini — Qua super-
sunt. 3 vols. 8vo. Lipsiae,
1808.
Ansted, Prof. D. T. \—A Short
Trip to Hungary and Transyl-
vania. 8vo. Lond. 1862.
Ansted, Prof. D. T. , and Latham,
Dr. R. G. :— The Channel Islands.
8vo. Lond. 1862.
Astnic, Jean : — MimoirespourVHis-
toire Naturdle de la Province de
Languedoc. 4to. Paris, 1737-
Archaological Association^ Journal
of the. 8vo. Lond.
Archaohgical Institute^ Proceedings
of the. 8vo. Lond.
Amdt, Christian Gottlieb von :—
Ueber den Ursprung und die
verschiedenartige Verwandtschafl
der Europdischen Sprachen. 8vo.
Frankiiirt am Main, 1818.
Arnold, Thomas, D.D. : — History
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Bancroft, Geoi^ : — History of the
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1854-5-
Baring-Gould, Sabine, M. A. : —
Iceland^ its Scenes and Sagas.
8vo. Lond. 1863.
Barry, Rev. John: — History of the
Orkney Islands. Second Edition.
4to. Lond 1808.
Barth, Dr. i — Travels in North and
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8vo. Lond. 1857.
Barth, C. Y<2x\'.—-Ueber die Drtdden
der Kelten, und die Priester der
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1826.
Baxter, William : — Glossarium An-
tiquiiatumBritannicarttm. Second
Edition. 8vo. Lond. 1773.
Beardmore, Nathaniel : — Manual of
Hydrology. 8vo. Lond. 1862.
Beaufort, Emily A. : — Egyptian
Sepulchres and Syrian Shrines^
including some stay in the Lebanon ^
at Palmyra, and in Western
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1861.
Becker, W. A. i—Charicles ; Illus-
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xviii Bibliographical List of Books consulted.
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Beckmann, J. : — History of Inven-
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1846.
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schen Orfsnamen, in geographi-
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gen, 1846.
Bergmann, Fr^d^ric Guillaume : —
Les Gites ; ou la filiation GMa-
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Strasbourg, 1859.
Betham, Sir William :—7:4/r Gael
and the Cymbri, 8vo. Dublin,
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nazione degli Arabi in Italia, 8vo.
Milano, 1846.
BiondeUi, B. : — Studii Linguistici.
8vo. Milano, 1856.
BlomeHeld, Francis : — An Essay
towards a Topographical History
^/Norfolk, 5 vols. fol. Fers-
field, 1739—1775-
Bocharti, Sanmelis — Opera Omnia,
Editio Tertia. 3 vols. fol. Lug-
duni Batavorum, 1582.
Booth, Rev. John, B.A.z^Epi-
grams, Aneient and Modem,
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Borring, fitienne : — Sur la Limite
Mh-idionale de la Monarchie Da-
noise. 8vo. Paris, 1849.
Borrow, George : — Wild Wales ;
its People, Language, and Scenery,
3 vols. 8vo. lx)nd. 1862.
Bosworlh, Rev. Joseph, D.D. : —
The Origin of the English, Ger-
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guages and nations, 8vo. Lond.
Bouche, Charle8-Fran9ois : — Essai
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4to. Marseille, 1785.
Boudard, P. A. \—Sur VOrigine
des Premiers Habitants des lies
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Boudard, P. A. : — Numismatiquc
Ibirienne, 4to. Beziers.
Bowditch, N. I. : — Suffolk Surnames. -
Second Edition. 8vo. Boston.
1858. .
Brace, Charles L. :—The Paces of
the Old World, 8vo. Lond. 1863.
Brandes : — Das Ethnographische
Verhdltniss der Kelien und Ger-
manen, 8vo. Leipsig, 1857.
British Association, Reports of the.
8vo. Lond.
Brown, Charles Philip : — Camatic
Chronology. 4to. Lond. 1863.
Bruce, Rev. John Collingwood : —
The Roman Wall: an Historical,
Topographical, and Descriptive
Account of the Barrier of the
Lower Isthmus, 410. Lond. 1851.
Buchanan, William ; — An Inquiry
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Zeit:chr0fiir Deutsches Alterthum. Baiern von den Markomannen
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Classical writers, such as Pliny, Tacitus, Josephus, Juvenal, Jerome,
Beda, Gregory the Great, &c. are cited by the chapter and verse. The
same has been done with the English classics^— such as Shakespeare,
Chaucer, Wicliflfe, Milton, Scott, and Blackstone.
The titles of the German Philological Journals quoted are given at full
length in the preceding list. This has not seemed to be necessary with
well-known English periodicals — such as the Quarterly^ Edinburgh^ North
British^ and Saturday Reviews^ The Times, The Guardian, Notes and
Queries.
Great use has been made of Richardson's New Dictionary of the English
Language, 2 vols. 4to. ; as well as the useful Imperial Dictiofuiry. I nave
constancy consulted K. von Spruner's Historisch-Geographisches Hand-
Atlas ; the Maps of the Useful Knowledge Society ; the Ordnance Survey
of Great Britain ; and the convenient reduction published by Crutch ley.
I have also used the large Government Surveys of France, Switzerland,
Belgium, WUrtembeig, Bavaria, &c and other ancient and modem maps
too numerous to mention.
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WORDS AND PLACES.
CHAPTER I,
THE SIGNIFICANCY OF LOCAL NAMES.
Local Names always significant, and possessed of great vitality — Some de-
scriptive— Geological value of such names — Others conserve ethnological and
historical facts, or illustrate the state of citnlization, or religion in past
times.
Local names — whether they belong to provinces,
cities, and villages, or are the designations of rivers and
mountains — are never mere arbitrary sounds, devoid of
meaning. They may ?ilways be regarded as records of
the past, inviting and rewarding a careful historical in-
terpretation.
In many instances the original import of such names
has faded away, or has become disguised in the lapse
of ages; nevertheless, the primeval meaning may be
recoverable, and whenever it is recovered we have gained
a symbol that may prove itself to be full-fraught with
instruction ; for it may indicate — emigrations — ^immigra- v
tions — ^the commingling of races by war and conquest, "^
B
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2 Signijp^ancy of Local Names.
or by the peaceful processes of commerce : — the name
of a district or of a town may speak to us of events
which written history has failed to commemorate. A
local name may often be adduced as evidence determi*
native of controversies that otherwise could never be
brought to a conclusion. t \}
The names of places are conservative of the more
archaic forms of a living language, or they embalm for
us the guise and fashion of speech in eras the most
remote. These topographic words, which float down
upon the parlance of successive generations of men, are
subject in their course to less phonetic abrasion, than
the other elements of a people's speech. Such words, it
is true, are subject to special perils, arising from at-
tempts at accommodating their forms to the require-
ments of popular etymological speculation ; but, on the
other hand, they are more secure than other words from
the modifying influences of grammatical inflexion.
The name of many an ancient city seems as if it
were endowed with a sort of inherent and indestructible
vitality : it is still uttered, unchanged in a single letter
— monumentum (ere perennius — while fragments of marble
columns, or of sculptures in porphyry or granite, are
seen strewing the site confusedly.^
What has been affirmed by the botanist as to the
floras of limited districts, may be said, with little abate-
ment, concerning local names — ^that they survive the
catastrophes which overthrow empires, and that they
outlive devastations which are fatal to almost every-
thing besides. Wars may trample down or extirpate
whatever grows upon a soil, excepting only its wild
flowers, and the names of those sites upon which man
^ As in the case of Tadmor, Sidon, or Hamath.
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Permanence of Names. 3
has found a home Seldom is a people utterly exter-
minated,^ for the proud conqueror leaves " of the poor of
the land" to till the glebe anew; and these enslaved
outcasts, though they may hand down no memory of
the splendid deeds of the nation's heroes, yet retain a
most tenacious recollection of the names of the hamlets
which their own ignoble progenitors inhabited, and near
to which their fathers were interred.
Nineteen-twentieths of the vocabulary of any people
lives only in the literature and the speech of the cul-
tured classes.* But the remainder — the twentieth part —
has a robust life in the daily usage of the sons of
toil: and this limited portion of the national speech
never fails to include the names of those objects which
are the most familiar and the most beloved. A few
score of ''household words'* have thus been retained
as the common inheritance of the whole of the Indo-
European nations ; ' and the same causes have secured
the local preservation of local names.
1 Thus in the historical books of the Old Testament, we have, inci-
dentally, a proof of the large Caaaanite element remaining after the
Isradiitsh conquest of Palestine. We see the old Canaanite names
straggling for existence with those imposed by the conquerors : — Kirjath
Arba with Hebron; Kirjath Sepher with Debir; Keneth with Nobar;
Laz with Bethel ; Ephratah with Bethlehem. — See Stanley's Lectures on
ike Jewish Chstrch^ p. 275.
s Of the 50^000 words in the English language, some 10,000 constitute
the vocabulary of an educated Englishman, and certainly not 1,000, perhaps
not more than 500^ are heard in the mou^is of the labouring classes. — See
Marsh, Lectures en the Engiish Language, pp. 125, 1^6; Max Mtiller^
Lectures on the Science rf Language, p. 268; Saturday Review, Nov. 3, 1 861.
> The names of the numerals, of father, mother, and brother, of the parts
of the body, of two or three of the commoner metals, tools, cereals, and
dcmiesticated animals, such as the cat, the mouse, and the goose, as well as
the names of the plough, of grist, of fire, of the house, as well as some of
the personal pronouns and numerals, come within this category. The
analysis of words of this class enables us to speculate upon the relative
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4 Significancy of L ocal Names.
These appellations, which have thus been floated
forward from age to age, have often, or they had at
first, a descriptive import ; — they tell us something of
the physical features of the land. Thus it is that they
may either give aid to the philologist when the aspect
of the country remains the same — its visible forms stand-
ing in view as a sort of material lexicon of a tongue
that has ceased to be vernacular ; or, on the other hand,
where the face of nature has undergone extensive
changes — ^where there were formerly, it may be, forests
that have been cleared, marshes that have been drained,
coast-lines that have advanced seaward, rivers that have
extended their deltas or found new channels, estuaries
that have been converted into alluvial soil, lakes that
have been silted up, islands that have become gentle
inland slopes surrounded by waving corn- flats; — in all
such cases, instances of which will be adduced hereafter,
these pertinacious names have a geological significance —
they come into use as a record of a class of events, as
to which, for the most part, written history is silent. In
this manner — and the instances are many — the names of
» places become available as the beacon-lights of geologic
history. In truth, there are instances in which local
epochs at which the Celtic, Romance, Sclavonic, and Teutonic families
separated from the parent stock, or from each other, and also to detect what
progress had been made in the arts of life at the periods when each of these
separations took place. See Grimm*8 Gtschkhte der Deutschen Spracht,
pp. 9 — 113 ; MaxMiiller, On Comparative Mythology, in the Oxford Essays
for 1856, pp. 14 — ^26; Leo, Vorlesungen, vol. I p. il ; Wilson, Prehistoric
Annals of Scotland, p. 350; Weber, Indische Skizzen, pp. 9, 10; Glad-
stone, Homer, vol. L p. 299 ; Pritchard, Reports of Brit. Assoc, for 1847,
p. -940; Mommsen, Inhabilants of Italy, pp. ii — 14 ; Pictet, Origines
Indo-Europ. pt i. pp. 149 — 530 ; pt. ii. pp. 739 — 75 1 ; Bunsen, Philosophy
of Universal History, vol. L pp. 75, 76 ; Mannhardt, Gotterwell, vol. i.
p. 47 ; Kuhn, Zur alteste Gesckichte,
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Descriptive Import of Names, 5
names, conserved in places where little or nothing else
that is human has endured, may be adduced as evidence
of vast physical mutations, side by side with the stone
hatchets and the spear-heads of the drift of Abbeville,
the canoes and anchors found in the alluvium of the
Carse of Falkirk and Strathclyde, the gnawed bones of
the Kirkdale Cavern, the glaciated rocks of Wales, the
rain-dinted slabs of Sussex, and other massive vouchers
in the physical history of the globe.
The picturesque or descriptive character of local names
is, as might be anticipated, prominently exemplified in
the appellations bestowed on the most striking feature
in landscape — ^mountain peaks and ranges. Thus it is
easy to perceive that, in every region of the world, the
loftier mountains have been designated by names which
describe that natural phenomenon, which would be most
certain to impress the imagination of a rude people.
The names of Snowdon, Ben Nevis, Mont Blanc, the
Sierra Nevada in Spain, Snafell in Iceland, the Sneeuw
Bergen at the Cape of Good Hope, the Sneehatten in
Norway, Sneekoppe in Bohemia, and the Weisshorn, the
Weissmies, and the Tdte Blanche in Switzerland, as well
as the more archaic or more obscure names of Lebanon,
of Caucasus, of Haemus, of the Himalaya, of Dwajala-
giri, and of Djebel-es-Sheikh, are appellations descrip-
tive, in various languages, of the characteristic snowy
covering of these lofty summits.
But there are many names which conjoin historical
and physical information. Thus, when we learn that the
highest summit in the Isle of Man is called SNAFELL, we
recognise at once the descriptive character of the name,
and we might be satisfied with simply placing it in the
foregoing list But when we discover that the name
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6 Significatuy of Local Names,
Snafell Is a true Norse word, and that it serves moreover
for the name of a mountain in Norway, and of another in
Iceland, we find ourselves in presence of the historical
fact that the Isle of Man was, for centuries, a dependency
of the Scandinavian Crown — Shaving been conquered and
colonized by the Norwegian Vikings, who also peopled
Iceland.
This is an instance of what we may call the ethnolo-
gical import of names. The chief value of the science of
geographical etymology consists in the aid which it is
thus able to give us in the determination of obscure etb-
nol(^ical questions. There are many nations which have
left no written records, and whose history would be a
blank volume — or nearly so — ^were it not that in the
places where they have sojourned they have left traces
of their migrations, sufficient to enable us to reconstruct
the main outline of their history. The hills, the valleys,
and the rivers are, in fact, the only writing-tablets on
which unlettered nations have been able to inscribe their
annals. It may be affirmed that, with hardly an except
tion, the great advances in ethnological knowledge which
have recently taken place are due to the decipherment of
the obscure and time-worn records thus conserved in
local names. The Celtic, the Iberic, the Teutonic, the
Scandinavian, and the Sclavonian races have thus, and
for the most part, thus only, made known to us their
migrations, their conquests, and their defeats.
To this subject — Etymology in its relations to Ethno-
logy— ^several of the succeeding chapters will be devoted.
But we sometimes derive historical information in a
still more explicit form from local names. They often
preserve the memory of historic sites, and even enable
us to assign approximate dates to certain memorable
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Historical Import of Names. y
events. Thus there is a meadow, near Stamford Bridge/
which still goes by the name of BATTLE FLATS. For
eight centuries, this name has kept in its tenacious grasp
the memory of the precise locality of the famous terri-
torial concession which Harald, son of Godwine, made to
Harald HardrAda, King of Norway, " seven feet of En-
glish ground, or as much more as he may be taller than
Qther men."^ And at the other extremity of the king-
dom the name of the town of battle, in Sussex, is the
epitaph which marks the spot where, \n less than a month,
the Saxon king lost his kingdom and his life.
The names of messina in Sicily, of carthagena in
Spain, and of MILETUS in Ionia, repeat the names of
the mother-cities which sent out these colonies ; and the
name of TRIPOLI reminds us that there were three cities,
— Tyre, Sidon, and Aradus — ^which joined in establishing
the new settlement
The name of the Philippine Islands tells us of the
reign in which the Spanish galleons steered from Peru
across the Southern Sea. The name of Louisiana re-
minds us that, in the days of the Grand Monargue,
France was the rival of England in the colcftiization of
the Western World ; and the names of Virginia, of the
CAROLINAS, and of GEORGIA give us the dates of the
first foundation of England's colonial empire, and of
some of the chief successive stages in its progress. The
word LONDONDERRY Speaks to us of the resettlement of
the desolated city of Derry by the London guilds ; while
the names KING'S COUNTY and QUEEN'S COUNTY,
PHILIPSTOWN, and MARYBOROUGH, commemorate the
^ Stamford Bridge was long known as Battle Bridge — Pons Belli, —
Lappenbefg, An^-Saxon Kings^ voL ii. p. iSi.
' Saga of Haiald HardridA, in Laing's ff^imskrinf^^ ToL ui p. 89.
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S Significancy of Local Nantes.
fact that it was in the days of King Philip and Queen
Mary that the O'Mores were exterminated, and twd new-
counties added to the English Pale.
There are materials of yet another class which may be
collected from the study of ancient names. From them
we may decipher facts that have a bearing on the history
of ancient civilization. With regard, for example, to
Saxon England, we may from local names draw many
inferences as to the amount of cultivated land, the state
of agriculture, the progress of the arts of construction,
and even as to the density of the population, and its
relative distribution. In the same records we may dis-
cover vestiges of various local franchises and privileges,
and may investigate certain social differences which must
have characterised the districts settled respectively by
the Saxons and the. Danes. And we may collect en-
chorial vestiges of the heathenism of our forefathers, and
illustrate the process by which it was gradually effaced
by the efforts of Christian teachers.
We thus perceive how many branches of scientific,
historical, and archaeological research are capable of being
elucidated •by the study of names ; and it is manifest
that, upon many grounds, the work of their Historical
Interpretation is called for. The almost virgin soil of a
rich field, which has never yet been systematically culti-
vated, presents itself before the labourer ; and an indus-
trious criticism, bringing into combination the resources
of Geography, of Physical Description, of Geology, of
Archaeology, of Ethnology, of Philology, and of History,
may hope to reach results, more or less important, in
each of these departments of knowledge ; or, at all events,
it cannot fail to indicate, for future exploration, some pf
the sites where lie buried the hidden treasures of the past
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Colonization of America.
CHAPTER II.
NAMES OF RECENT ORIGlK.
ColonhuUum of America — Greenland^Leif Ericson — Columbus— Religious
fedifig in the Names given by the Spaniards and by the Puritans — Salem
—Providence— The Quaker Colony— Native Indian Names— The Eliza-
bethan worthies : Frobisher^ Davis, Baffin, Hudson, Drake, and Gilbert-
Adventures of Captain Smith— The French plantations— The Dutch in
North and South America — Magalhaens — Spanish and Portuguese dis-
coveries— TTte Dutch in the South Seas-^New Zealand and New Holland
— Recent Arctic discoveries^
1 HE peopling of the Eastern Hemisphere is an event of
the distant past The names upon the map of Europe
have remained there, most of them for ten, many of them
for twenty, centuries* To study them is a task full of dif-
ficulties ; for they are mostly derived from obscure or
unknown languages, and they have suffered more or less
from the phonetic changes of so many years. But with
the New World the case is different. The colonization
of America has been effected during the modern historic
period, the process of name^iving is illustrated by
numerous authentic documents, and the names are de-
rived from living languages. Just as the best introduction
to the study of geolc^y is the investigation of recent
formations, abounding in the remains of still existing
organisms, so we may fitly commence our present task
by*aa examination of what we may call the tertiary de-
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lo Nanus of Recetit Origin.
posits of America and Australia, which are still in process
of formation ; and we shall then be better prepared to
explore the Wealden and other secondary formations of
the Teutonic Period, and the still older primary Celtic
strata — Silurian, Cambrian, and Devonian. We shall
find that the study of the more recent names throws
much light on those natural laws which have regulated
the nomenclature of Europe : and the investigation is,
moreover, full of interest, from the numerous associations
with the names of the bold conquistadors and the daring
seamen whose enterprise has added another continent to
the known world.
By means of the names upon the map, we may trace
the whole history of the successive stages by which the
white men have spread themselves over the Western
World. We may discover the dates at which the several
settlements were founded, we may assign to each of the
nations of Europe its proper share in the work of colo-
nization, and, lastly, we may recover the names of the
adventurous captains who led their little bands of daring
followers to conquer the wilderness from nature, or from
savage tribes.
The name of GREENLAND is the only one which is
left to remind us of the Scandinavian settlements which
were made in America during the tenth century. The
discoveries of Leif, son of Eric the Red, have been for-
gotten, and the Norse names of Vinland (Massachusetts),
Markland (Nova Scotia), Helluland it mikla (Labrador),
and Litla Helluland (Newfoundland), have been super->
seded, and now survive only in the memory of the
curious.
Without disparagement of the claims of Leif Ericson
to the discovery of the New World, we may r^ret HtxaiX
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Columbm. 1 1
the names of the city of COLOMBUS and of the district
of COLUMBIA form the only memorials of the bold Ge-
noese adventurer ; and we may wish that the name of the
entire continent had been such as to remind us, day by
day, of the exploits of Christopher Columbus rather than
of those of Amerigo VespuccL Alexander von Hum-
boldt^ has, indeed, vindicated Vespucci from the chaise
of trickery or forgery which Las Casas attempted to
fasten upon him; and we must, therefore, regard the
aame of America as an unfortunate mistake rather than
as an inglorious and successful fraud.^
The deep religious feeling of the earlier voyagers is
well illustrated by the names which they bestowed upon
their discoveries. The first land descried by Columbus
was the island of SAN SALVADOR. From day to day he
held on, in spite of the threats of his mutinous crew, who
threatened to throw the crazy visionary into the sea.
With what vividness does this name of San Salvador
disclose the feelings with which, on the seventieth night
of the dreary voyage, the brave Genoese caught sight of
what seemed to be a light gleaming on some distant
shore ; how vividly does that name enable us to realize
the scene when, on the next day, with a humble and
grateful pride, he set foot upon that new world of
which he had dreamed from his boyhood, and, having
erected the symbol of the Christian faith and knelt before
it, he rose from his knees and proclaimed, in a broken
voice, that the land should henceforth bear the name of
San Salvador — the Holy Saviour, who had preserved him
through so many perils 1
^ Cosmos^ voL il note 457.
* The error obtained cnrrency from a work on Geography, published in
the year 1507.
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1 2 Names of Recent Origin.
We cannot but reverence the romantic piety which
chequers the story of the violence and avarice of the con*
quistadors. On the discovery of unknown shores, the
first thought of those fierce soldiers was to claim the
lands as new kingdoms of their Lord and Master, and to
erect forthwith His symbol, the SANTA CRUZ, the VERA
CRUZ, the name of which marks upon our maps so many
of the earliest settlements of the Spaniards and Por-
tuguese.
The name of SAN SEBASTIAN, the first Spanish colony
founded on the continent of South America, forms a
touching memorial of the perils which beset the earlier
colonists. On disembarking from the ships, seventy of
the Spaniards were killed by the poisoned arrows of the
Indians ; on which account the dangerous spot was put
under the special protection of the martyr, who, by reason
of the circumstances of his death, might be supposed to
feel a personal and peculiar sympathy with those who
were exposed to the like sufferings.^
As in the case of many great men, there seems to
have been a sort of mysticism underlying the piety of
Columbus. On his third voyage he discerned three
mountain-peaks rising from the waters, and supposed that
three new islands had been discovered. On a nearer
approach, it was found that the three summits formed
one united land — a fact which the admiral recognised as
a mysterious emblem of the Holy Trinity, and there-
fore bestowed upon the island the name of LA TRINIDAD,
which it still retains.
^ So too the name of the ladrones, or *' Robbers' Islands/* comme-
morates the losses of Magelhaen's crew from the thievish propensities of the
natives. The name sierra leone, The Lion's range, records the terrors
of the Portuguese discoverers at the nightly roaring of the lions in the
mountains which fringe the coast
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The Soldiers of the Cross, 1 3
The Spaniards were devout observers of the festivals
of the Church, and this circumstance often enables us to
fix the precise day on which great discoveries were made.
Thus FLORIDA, with its dreary swamps, is not the
** Flowery Land," as it is sometimes thought to be ; but
its name records the fact that it was discovered by Juan
Ponce de Leon on Easter Sunday — a festival which the
Spaniards call Pascua Florida, from the flowers with
which the churches are then decked. The island of
DOMINICA was discovered on a Sunday — dies Dominica.
"NATAL was discovered by Vasco de Gama on Christmas-
day — dies Natalis, Alfonso de Sousa founded the first
Portuguese colony in the Brazils, and its name JANEIRO,
recalls the fact that he landed on the Feast of St Janu-
arius. The town of ST. AUGUSTINE^ the oldest in the
United States, was founded on St. Augustine's-day by
Melendez, who was sent by Philip IL of Spain on the
pious mission of exterminating a feeble colony of
Huguenot refugees, who were seeking, on the coast of
Florida, that religious liberty which was denied them in
their native land.
The islands of ASCENSION and ST. HELENA, the River
ST. LAWRENCE, and other places too numerous to men-
tion, thus date the day of their discovery by their names.
A religious feeling equally intense with that which
dictated the names bestowed by the Spanish discoverers,
but very different in character, is evinced by the names
which mark the sites of the Earlier Puritan colonies in
North America.
Salem was intended to be the earthly realization of
the New Jerusalem, where a " New Reformation," of the
sternest Calvinistic type, was to inaugurate a fresh era in
the history of the world, and a strict discipline was to
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14 Names of Recent Origiiu
eradicate every frailty of our human nature from this
City of the Saints. From the laws of the neighbouring
town of Newhaven,^ as given by Hutchinson, we may
gather some notion of Life in this Puritan Utopia.
Among other things, it was there enacted, under severe
penalties: —
'' That no one shall be a freeman unless he be con*
verted
' '' That no one shall run on the Sabbath, or walk in
his garden.
'^ That no one shall make beds, cut hair, or shave, and
no woman shall kiss her children on the Sabbath.
"That no one shall make mince-pies, or play any in-
strument, except the trumpet, drum, and jews*-harp,
" That no food or lodging shall be given to any Quaker
or other heretic"
The laws of Massachusetts assigned the penalty of
death to all Quakers, as well as to '' stubborn and rebel-
lious sons," and to all ^'children, above sixteen, who
curse or smite their natural father or mother," and to
persons guilty of idolatry, witchcraft, or blasphemy.
These laws, breathing the spirit of Christianity as
understood by the Puritan exiles for conscience* sake,
quickly bore their fruit. Roger Williams, a noble-hearted
man, who, strange to say, had been chosen to be minister
at Salem, dared to affirm the heresy that ** the doctrine
of persecution for cause of conscience is most evidently
and lamentably contrary to the doctrine of Christ Jesus,**
^ Caswall, TkeAmtrkan Church and the American Union^ p*3S> Lucas,
SeculariUf pp. 419, 227. Since the first Edition of Words and Places was
published I have received a letter from an American correspondent in which
he informs me that these so-called "Blue Laws" are a forgery. My cor-
respondent assigns no reasons, bat I sincerely hope his statement is correct.
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Puritan Names* 1 5
and that ^ no man should be bound to worship against
his own consent" For maintaining these heterodox
opinions, which struck at the root of the New England
system of polity, Williams had sentence of exile pro-
nounced s^inst him. He wandered forth into the snows
of a New England winter : '* for fourteen weeks," he says,
* he often, in the stormy night, had neither fire nor food,
and had no house but a hollow tree/
The savages showed him the mercy which his fellow-
Christians had refused him, an Indian chief gave him
food and shelter ; but that wigwam in the far forest was
soon pronounced to be within the jurisdiction of the
Puritan colony, and the Apostle of Toleration, hunted
even from the wilderness, embarked with five companions
in a canoe, and landed in Rhode Island. With simple
piety he called the spot where the canoe first touched
the land, by the name of PROVIDENCE — ^a place which
still remains the capital of Rhode Island, the State which
Williams founded as ''a shelter for persons distressed for
conscience." *
The name of CONCORD, the capital of the State of
New Hampshire, shews that some at least of the
Puritans were actuated by feelings more in harmony
with the spirit of the religion they professed; while
PHILADELPHIA, the City of Brotherly Love, tells a
touching tale of the unbrotherly persecutions which
filled the gaols of England with 60,000 Quakers, —
persecutions from which they fled, in the hope of in-
augurating a Utopian era of peace and harmony.
All readers of Pepys' amusing Diary are familiar with
the name of his colleague at the Admiralty, Sir William
Feim. The funds which should have found their way
^ Bancroft^ History rfike United States^ red. i pp. 276—286.
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1 6 Names of Recent Origin,
into the naval chest were diverted to purposes more
agreeable to the " merry monarch" than the purchase of
tar and timber ; and, in consequence, the fortune which
the Comptroller of the Navy bequeathed to his Quaker
son, was a claim on the royal purse for the sum of
16,000/. The money not being forthcoming, young
:Penn — ^who, much to the annoyance of his family, had
embraced the tenets of the Quakers — obtained, in satis-
faction of his claims, a large grant of forest-land in
North America, and led forth a colony of Quakers to
found the new colony, called, after himself, PENN-
SYLVANIA.
The name of BOSTON reminds us of the part of
England from which the first Puritan settlers emigrated.
They had, with much difficulty, escaped from the Lin-
colnshire coast — ^some of them having been apprehended
on the beach for the crime of attempting to reach a
country where they might worship according to their
consciences. Their first refuge was in Holland, from
whence the Mayflower carried them to the shores of
New England, and on the nth of December, 1620,
landed them on a desolate spot, five hundred miles from
the nearest settlement of white men. To this spot they
gave the name of PLYMOUTH — a reminiscence of the last
English land which they had seen as they passed down
the Channel*
HOBOKEN (an Indian word, meaning the "smoke
pipe") was the name of a spot in New Jersey, at which
the settlers met the Indian chiefs in council, and smoked
the pipe of peace, while they formed a league of amity
1 The Puritan emigration lasted twenty years — ^from 1620 to 1640. During
this period, 21,000 emigrants crossed the Atlantic. The population of the
six New England States is now upwards of three millions*
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Indian Names. ly
— ^too soon, alas! to be broken by the massacre of
BLOODY BROOK, where so many of the colonists were
treacherously slain. Hoboken is one of the many Indian
names which we find scattered over the map of the
American continent, and which are frequently used to
designate the great natural features of the country, the
lakes, the rivers, the mountain ranges, and the chief
natural territorial divisions.^ Such are the names of
the NIAGARA, the POTOMAC, the OTTAWA, the RAPPA-
HANNOCK, the SUSQUEHANNA, the MISSISSIPPI, the
MISSOURI, the MINNESOTA, CANADA, MASSACHUSETTS,
CONNECTICUT, ARKANSAS, WISCONSIN, MICHIGAN.
The name of MEXICO is derived from Mexitli, the
Aztec war-god. TLASCALA means "the place of bread."
HAYTI is the " mountainous country." The ANDES take
their name from the Peruvian word anta — copper. Local
names are the only memorial of many once powerful
tribes which have become extinct. The names of the
ALLEGHANY Range, the MOHAWK Valley, Lake HURON,
Lake ERIE, Lake NIPISSING, the City of NATCHEZ,
CHEROKEE County, the River OTTAWA, and the States
of KANSAS, OHIO, and ILLINOIS are all derived from the
names of tribes already extinct or rapidly becoming so.
Centuries hence, the historian of the New World will
point to these names as great ethnological landmarks :
they will have, in his eyes, a value of the same kind as
that which is now attached to the names of Hesse,
Devonshire, The Solway, Paris, or Turin.^
The name of VIRGINIA carries us back to the reign of
^ The rivers and mouDtaiiis receive their names from the earliest races,
villages and towns from later colonists. Many illustrations of the principle
will be adduced in Chapter IX.
See Chapter IV. and Appendix A.
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1 8 Names of Recent Origin,
the Virgin Queen, and gives us the date of the exploits
of those hardy sailors, who cast into the shade the deeds
even of the Spanish conquistadors. Not far from the
scene of one of his ruinous enterprises,^ the most chival-
rous, the most adventurous, the most farsighted, and the
most unfortunate of Englishmen, has recently had a
tardy tribute paid to him, in the adoption, by the
Legislature of North Carolina, of the name of kaleigh
as the designation of the capital of the State in which
Raleigh's colony was planted. On RALEIGH island, at
the entrance of Roanoke Sound, may still be discerned
the traces of the fort around which the adventurers
built the CITY OF RALEIGH, a place which has now
vanished from the map. Of Raleigh's other enterprises,
more especially of his quixotic ascent of the Orinoco for
four hundred miles in small open boats, no local name
remains as a memorial.
The names of other heroes of the Elizabethan era are
to be sought elsewhere. In the Northern Seas we find
a record of the achievements of four brave Englishmen
— Frobisher, Davis, Baffin, and Hudson. The adven-
turous spirit which actuated this band of naval worthies
is shown in the declaration of Martin Frobisher, who
deemed the discovery of the North- West Passage " the
only thing of the world that was yet left undone by
which a notable minde might be made famous and
fortunate." In command of two little barks, respectively
of 25 and 20 tons, and accompanied by a small pinnace,
FROBISHER Steered for the unknown seas of ice, and,
undaunted by the loss of the pinnace and the mutinous
defection of one of his crews, he persevered in his
^ Cape fear commemorates the narrow escape from destruction of one
of the expeditions sent out by Raleigh.
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Frobisher^ Davis, and Baffin. 19
. enterprise, and discovered the strait which bears his
name.^
John Davis, with two ships respectively of 50 and 35
tons, followed up the discoveries which Frobisher had
made. With a brave heart he kept up the courage of
his sickly sailors, who were struck with terror at the
strange sight of huge floating icebergs towering overhead,
and at the fearful crash of the icefloes as they ground one
against the- other, and threatened the ships with instant
destruction. When, at length, the wished-for land came
in sight, it was found to be so utterly barren and inhos-
pitable that the disappointed seamen gave it the name
which it still bears — CAPE DESOLATION. But Davis
persevered, and was rewarded by the discovery of an
open passage leading to the North-West, to which
the name of DAVIS* straits has been rightfully
assigned,*
Bylot and Baffin, with one small vessel, and a crew of
fourteen men and two boys, eclipsed all that Davis had
done, and ventured into unknown seas, where, for the
next two hundred years, none dared to follow them.
They discovered the magnificent expanse of water
which is known by the name of BAFFIN'S BAY, and they
coasted round its shores in hopes of finding some outlet
towards the North or West. Three channels were
discovered, to which they gave the names of Sir James
LANCASTER, Sir Thomas SMITH, and Alderman JONES,
by whose countenance and pecuniary assistance they
had been enabled to equip the expedition.
The adventurous life and tragic fate of Henry Hud-
1 Hackluyt, Navigations^ vol. iii. pp. 29 — 96. Cf. Calendar of State
Papersy Dom. Ser, 1577-9.
* Hackluyt, Navigations, vol, iii. pp. 9? — 120,
C 2
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20 . Names of Recent Origin,
son would make an admirable subject for an historical
romance. The narration is quaintly given in Purcltas
His Pilgrimes;^ but, fortunately or unfortunately, it
has not, so far as I am aware, been selected as a theme
by any modern writer. Hudson's first voyage was an
attempt to discover the North-East Passage to India.
With ten men and a boy, he had succeeded in attaining
the coast of Spitzbergen, when the approach of winter
compelled him to return. In a second voyage he
reached Nova Zembla. The next year he traced the
unknown coast-line of New England, and entered the
great river which bears his name. His last expedition
was rewarded by still greater discoveries than any he
had hitherto effected. In a bark of 55 tons he attempted
the North-West Passage, and, penetrating through
HUDSON'S STRAIT, he reached HUDSON'S BAY, where
his ship was frozen up among the icefloes. Patiently he
waited for the approach of spring, although, before the
ship was released, the crew had been reduced to feed
on moss and frogs. After awhile, they fortunately
succeeded in catching a supply of fish, and prepared to
return home, with provisions for only fourteen days.
Dismayed at this prospect of starvation, the crew
mutinied, and, with the object of diminishing the
number of mouths to be fed, they treacherously seized
their brave captain ; and having placed in a small boat
a little meal, a musket, and an iron pot, they cast
Hudson adrift, with eight sick men, to find a grave in
the vast inland sea, the name of which is the worthy
epitaph of one of the most daring of England's seamen.
The names of these four men — Frobisher, Davis, Baffin,
and Hudson — ^the world will not willingly let die.
^ Purchas, PUgrimes^ yol. ill pp. 567 — 609.
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Hudson^ Drake, and Gilbert 2 1
The naval triumphs of the Elizabethan era are also
associated, in the minds of Englishmen, with the exploits
of Drake and Gilbert, although they have not been
fortunate enough to give their names to seas or cities.
Drake's almost fabulous adventures — his passage of the
Straits of Magalhaens— his capture of huge treasure-
ships with his one small bark — ^his voyage of 1,400 miles
across the Pacific, which he was the first Englishman to
navigate — ^his discovery of the western coast of North
America, and his successful circumnavigation of the
globe, form the subject of a romantic chapter in the
history of maritime adventure.
But a still higher tribute of admiration is due to
the brave and pious Sir Humphrey Gylberte, who, on
his return from his expedition to NEWFOUNDLAND,
attempted to cross the Atlantic in his "Frigat," the
Squirrel^ a little vessel of, 10 tons. Near the Azores,
a storm arose, in which he perished. The touching
account of his death as given in Hackluyt, is well
known, but it can hardly be repeated too often : " The
Generall, sitting abaft with a booke in his hand, cried
out to us in the Hind, so oft as we did approach within
hearing, * We are as neere to heaven by "sea as by land,*
— ^reiterating the same speech, well beseeming a souldier
resolute in Jesus Christ, as I can testifie he was. The
same Monday night, about twelve of the clocke, or not
long after, the Frigat being ahead of us in the Golden
Hinde, suddenly her lights were out, whereof, as in a
moment, we lost the sight, and withall our watch cryed
the Generall was cast away, which was too true ; for in
that moment the Frigat was devoured and swallowed up
of the sea," ^
^ Hacklnyt, Navigations, voL iii. p. 159.
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22 Names of Recent Origin.
Such were the gallant gentlemen and "soldiers resolute
in Jesus Christ" who made the reign of Elizabeth illus-
trious*
The records of the progress of English colonization
during the next reign are to be sought on the banks of
the JAMES River. On either side, at the entrance of
this river, are Cape henry and Cape CHARLES. Cape
Charles was called after "Baby Charles," and Cape
Henry bears the name of the hopeful prince whose
accession to the throne might probably have changed
the whole course of English history. ELIZABETH
County, which formed M'Clellan's base of operations
in the late campaign, and in which stands Fortress
Monroe, was so called in honour of the sister of these
princes — the hapless Winter Queen, the mother of
Prince Rupert. SMITH'S ISLES, near Cape Charles, and
SMITHFIEL1>, on the opposite side of the James River,
^re memorials of Captain John Smith, a man of rare
genius and enterprise, to whom, even more than to
Raleigh, the ultimate establishment of the English
colony in Virginia is due.
Even in those days of wild adventure. Smith's career
had been such as distinguished him above all his fellow-
colonists in Virginia. When almost a boy he had fought,
under Leicester, in that Dutch campaign, the incredible
mismanagement of which has been so ably detailed by
Mr. Motley. His mind, as he tells us, " being set upon
brave adventures," he had roamed over France, Italy,
and Egypt, doing a little piracy, as it would now be
called, in the Levant. Coming to Hungary, he took
service for the war with the Turks, against whom he
devised many "excellent stratagems," and performed
prodigies of . valour in various single combats with
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Captain John Smith. 21
Turkish champions, slaying the " Lord Turbashaw," also
" one Grualgo, the vowed friend of Turbashaw," as well
as '* Bonny Mulgro," who tried to avenge the death of
the other two.
After numerous adventures, for which the reader must
be referred to his amusing autobiography, a general en-
gagement took place, and Captain Smith was left for
dead upon the field of battle. Here he was made
prisoner, and sold into slavery at Constantinople. Being
regarded with too much favour by his "fair mistresse,"
who "tooke much compassion on him," he was sent into
the Crimea, where he was " no more regarded than a
beast." Driven to madness by this usage, he killed his
taskmaster, the Tymor, whose clothes he put on, and
whose horse he appropriated, and thus succeeded in es-
caping across the steppes ; and, after overcoming many
perils, he at last reached a Christian land. " Being thus
satisfied with Europe and Asia," and hearing of the
" warres in Barbarie," he forthwith proceeded to the in-
terior of Morocco, in search of new adventures. We
next hear of him " trying some conclusions at sea " with
the Spaniards; and at last, at thirty years of age, he
found himself in Virginia, at a time when a great portion
of the hundred colonists had perished, and the survivors
were meditating the abandonment of what seemed a
hopeless enterprise. Before long. Smith's force of cha-
racter placed him at the Hfead of affairs, which soon began
to improve under the influence of his resolute and hope-
ful genius. But the position of responsibility in which
he was placed could not put a stop to the execution of
his adventurous projects. In an open boat he made a
coasting voyage of some three thousand miles, in the
course of which he discovered and explored the Potomac.
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24 Names of Recent Origin,
On the occasion of one of these expeditions, his com-
panions were all cut off by the Indians, and he himself,
** beset with 200 salvages," was taken prisoner and con-
demned to die. Brought before the King of Pamaunkee,
" the salvages " had fastened him to a tree, and were
about to make him a target for the exhibition of their
skill .^n archery, when he obtained his release by the
adroitMisplay of the great medicine of a pocket-compass.
" A bagge of gunpowder," which had come into the pos-
session of the salvages, " they carefully preserved till the
next spring, to plant as they did their corne, because
they would be acquainted with the nature of that seede.^
Taken at length before " Powhattan, their Emperor," for
the second time Smith had sentence of death passed
upon him. " Two great stones were brought ; as many
as could, layd hands on him, dragged him to them, and
thereon laid his head, being ready with their clubs to
beate out his braines." At this juncture " Pocahontas,
the king's dearest daughter," a beautiful girl, the " non-
pareil of the country," was touched with pity for the
white-skinned stranger; and, "when no intreaty could
prevaile," she rushed forward and " got his head in her
armes, and laid her owne upon his to save him from
death," and thus succeeded, at the risk of her life, in ob-
taining the pardon of the prisoner. Pocahontas was
afterwards married to John Rolfe, "an honest and dis-
creet " young Englishman, and from her some of the first
families of the Old Dominion are proud to trace their
descent*
1 This account is abridged from The True Travels^ Adventures, and
Observations of Captain John Smith in Europe, Asia, Africke, and America^
Londpn, 1629 ; and The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and
the Sommer /s/es, London, 1627 — ^two most quaint and delightful works, of
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The French Plantations, 25
The State of FLORIDA, as the name imports, was
originally a Spanish colony. LOUISIANA, NEW ORLEANS,
MOBILE, and many other names, remind us that, in the
reign of Louis XIV., France held firm possession of the
Valley of the Mississippi, and stretched a chain of forts,
by ST. LOUIS, ST. CHARLES, and the State of Illinois, to
FOND DU LAC and LAC SUPERIEUR, the " Upper Lake "
of the great chain of lakes, as far as DETROIT, the " nar-
row passage " between the LAC ST. CLAiR and Lake Erie.
In Canada we are surrounded by French names. QUEBEC
is a name transferred from Brittany,^ and MONTREAL is
the " Royal Mount," so named by the Frenchman Cartier
in 1535. Lake CHAMPLAIN takes- its name from Champ-
lain, a bold Normand adventurer "delighting marvellously
in these enterprises," who joined an Indian war-party,
and was the first to explore the upper waters of the St
Lawrence and the Mississippi. The Habitans (as the
French Canadians of the Lower Province are called) still
retain the characteristics of the Normand peasantry in
the time of Louis XIV. Cape BRETON was discovered,
by mariners from Brittany, as early as the lifetime of
Columbus. The name of the State of verjiqnt shows
that it came within the great French ' dominipn, and the
which a well-edited reprint would be opportune. A brief narrative of
Smith's adventures will be found in Bancroft, HUtory oftht United States^
voL t pp. 94 — 112; Drake, Book of the Indians^ bk. iv. pp. 7 — 18; and
Cooley, History of Maritime and Inland Discovery^ vol. ii pp. 212 — 215.
See also Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, 1614. Smith, of Virginia,
bore for arms a chevron, between the three Turks' heads, which he had cut
off. He is the hero of the Blackletter Ballad in the British Museum,
entitled — "The Honor of a London Prentice; being an account of his
matchless manhood and boyhood."— Smith's Antiquarian Ramble in the
Streets of London, vol. ii. p. 133.
1 The etymology of Lamartiniere from Quel heel What a cape ! is too
absurd to need refutation.
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26 Namei of Recent Origin.
State of MAINE repeats in the New World the name of
one of the maritime provinces of France. But the genius
of Lord Chatham wrested the empire of the New World
from France ; and Fort Du Quesne, the key of the French
position in the Valley of the Ohio, under its new name of
PITTSBURGH, commemorates the triumphs of the great
war-minister, and is now one of the largest cities in
the United States.
The State of DELAWARE was "planted" in 1610 by
Lord De la Warr, under a patent granted by James I.
The further progress of colonization in this region is
commemorated by the Roman Catholic colony of MARY-
LAND, named after Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles
I. ; and BALTIMORE, the capital of the State, takes its
name from Lord Baltimore, the patentee of the new
colony,^ who thus transferred to the New World the
Celtic name of the little Irish village from which he de-
rived his title.
New jersey, in like manner, was founded under a
patent granted, in the reign of Charles IL, to Geoi^e
Carteret, Lord Jersey ; while NOVA SCOTIA was a con-
cession to Sir William Alexander, a Scotchman, who,
with a band of his compatriots, settled there in the time
of James II. Its recolonization in the reign of George
II. is marked by the name of HALIFAX, given in honour
of Lord Halifax, the president of the Board of Trade.
The city of Charleston, Albemarle Sound, the
rivers ASHLEY and COOPER, and the States of North and
South CAROLINA,^ date from the time of the Restoration ;
* Calendar of State Papers^ Colonial Series^ 1632.
' The name of the Carolinas seems to have been revived at this period,
having been originally given at the time of the first colonization by the
Huguenots in the reign of Charles IX. of France.
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Progress of English Colonization. 2J
and the people are justly proud of the historical asso-
ciations which attach to many of the local names.^
ANNAPOLIS, the capital of Maryland, as well as the
RAPIDAN and NORTH ANNA Rivers, bring us to the reign
of Queen Anne ; and GEORGIA, the last of the thirteen
colonies, dates from the reign of George IT. NEW
INVERNESS, in Georgia, was settled by Highlanders im-
plicated in the rebeUion of 1745. FREDERICKSBURG, the
scene of the recent bloody repulse of the Federals, and
FREDERICK CITY, in Maryland, bear the name of the
weak and worthless son of George IL As has been
observed by the Southern correspondent of the Titnes^
•* It is safe to observe that Virginia has done more than
the mother country to keep alive the memory of a prince,
who lives for Englishmen only as he is gibbeted in the
Memoirs of Lord Harvey." ■
The Scandinavian colony of NEW SWEDEN has been
absorbed by the States of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and
New Jersey ; but a few names, like SWEDESBORO* and
DONA, still remain as evidences of a fact now almost
foigotten.
The map of the State of NEW YORK takes us back to
the reign of Charles II. The King's brother, James,
Duke of York and Albany, had a grant made to him
of the as yet unconquered Dutch colony of the NEW
NETHERLANDS, the two chief cities of which, NEW AM-
STERDAM and FORT ORANGE, Were rechristened, after
the Dutch had been dispossessed, by the names of NEW
YORK and ALBANY, from the titles of the royal patentee.
The names of the KATSKILL Mountains, staten Island,
BROOKLYN (Breukelen), WALLABOUT Bay, YONKER's
* Yiyissx^Ly Diary North and Souths voL I p. 171.
■ Times, Dec. 27, i86a.
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28 Names of Recent Origin.
Island, the haarlem River, and the villages of flush-
ing, STUYVESANT, and BLAUVELT,! are among the local
memorials which still remind us of the Dutch dominion
in North America.*
The Dutch colony in South America has had a greater
permanence. NEW AMSTERDAM, fredenberg, blauw-
BERG, and many other Dutch names in the same neigh-
bourhood, surrounded as they are by Portuguese and
Spanish names, are an exhibition of the results of in-
trusive colonization, and are instructive analogues of ob-
scure phenomena, which we shall hereafter find exhibited
on the Continent of Europe.
Cape horn, or rather cape hoorn, as it should
properly be written, is also a vestige of the early enter-
prise of Holland. The name is derived from Hoorn, a
village on the Zuyder Zee, which was the birthplace of
Schouten,^ the first seaman who succeeded in doubling
the Cape. Before the time of Schouten's voyage, the
Pacific had been entered by the STRAITS OF MAGAL-
haens, a passage between Tierra del Fiiego and the
mainland, which had been discovered by a man who, for
genius, fertility of resource, and undaunted courage, de-
serves a place on the roll of fame beside Columbus,
Cortez, Smith, and Hudson. Fernando Magalhaens was
a Portuguese, engaged in the Spanish service, and was
sent out to wrest from his fellow-countrymen the pos-
session of the Moluccas, which, under the terms of the
^ We may add the names of Kinderhook, Haverstraw, Spuyten Duyvel,
Watervliet, Rooeefdt, Roseboom, Rosendale, Staatsburg, and Clavcrack.
> The word creek, which often appears in American river-names, appears
to be a vestige of the Dutch dominion. Kreek is a common suffix in the
Netherlands. Forstemann, Ortsnamen^ p. 35.
> Esquiros, The Dutch at Homey voL i. p. 255.
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Magalhaens, 29
famous Papal Bull, were conceived to be included in the
Spanish moiety of the world. Threading his way
through the straits which bear his name, Magalhaens
held on his way, in spite of the mutiny of his crews, the
loss of one ship, and the desertion of another, and at
last reached the Philippine Islands, where, during an
attack by the natives, he fell beneath a shower of spears.
TORRES* STRAITS bear the name of one of Magalhaens*
lieutenants.
The PHILIPPINES and the CAROLINES bear the names
of two Spanish monarchs, Philip II. and Charles II.,
under whose respective auspices the first were colonized
and the second were discovered.
The MARQUESAS received their name in honour of the
Marquis Mendoza detCafiete, who, from his Viceroyalty
of Peru, equipped the expedition which led to the dis-
covery. But these were not the only results of Spanish
enterprise in the Pacific. JUAN Fernandez, a bold
Spanish sailor, chanced upon the solitary isle which bears
his name — an island which is chiefly memorable to
Englishmen from having been, for four years, the abode
of one of Dampier*s comrades — ^Alexander Selkirk,
whose adventures suggested to De Foe the inimitable
fiction of Robinson Crusoe. The BERMUDAS, " the still-
vexed Bermoothes," alluded to in Shakespeare's Tempesty
were discovered, at an earlier period, by another Spaniard,
Juan Bermudez: they took the name of the SOMERS
ISLANDS, by which they were long known, from the ship-
wreck of Sir George Somers, one of the deputy-governors
of Virginia.^
We cannot complete the list of Spanish explorers
without a mention of the name of ORELLANA, which,
^ See Calendar 0/ State Papers, Colonial Series, i6io.
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30 Names of Recent Origin.
according to some maps, is borne by the largest river of
the world. There are few more romantic narratives of
adventure than the history of Orellana's voyage down
the Amazons. In the company of Gonzales Pizarro he
left Peru, and having penetrated through the trackless
Andes, he came upon the head waters of a great river.
The provisions brought by the explorers having at length
become exhausted, their shoes and their saddles were
boiled and eaten, to serve as a condiment to such roots
as could be procured by digging. Meanwhile the ener-
gies of the whole party were engaged in the construction
of a small bark, in which Orellana and fifty men com-
mitted themselves to the mighty stream, which, in seven
long months, floa'ted them down to the Atlantic, through
the midst of lands utterly unknown, clad to the water's
edge with gigantic forest-trees, and peopled by savage
and hostile tribes. Not content, however, with describing
the real perils of the voyage, or, perhaps, half-crazed by
the hardships which he had undergone, Orellana, on his
return to Spain, gave the reins to his imagination, and
related wild travellers' tales concerning a nation of female
warriors who had opposed his passage; and posterity
has punished his untruthfulness by enshrining, in a
memorial name, the story of the fabled amazons, and
letting the remenibrance of the daring explorer fade
away.^
We find the records of Portuguese adventure in BAHIA,
PERNAMBUCO, BRAGANgA, and a host of other names
in the Brazils, which were accidentally discovered by
Cabral, who was sailing with an expedition destined for
the East Indies, But the great field of Portuguese
1 See Cooley, Hist, of Afaritinu attd Inland Discovery, vol. il p. S4 ;
Prescott, Conquest oj Peru, vol. ii. pp. 320—323.
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Portuguese and Dutch Discoverers. 3 1
enterprise lay in the East, where the names BOMBAY,
MACAO, and FORMOSA, attest the widespread nature of
the commerce which the newly found sea-route to India
threw into the hands of its discoverers. Their track is
marked by such names as SALDANHA BAY, CAPE AGUL-
HAS, ALGOA BAY, and CAPE DELGADO, which we find
scattered along the southern coasts of Africa. The
name of the Cape itself reveals the spirit of hopeful
enterprise which enabled the Portuguese to achieve so
much. Bartholomew Diaz, baffled by tempests, was
unable, on his first expedition, to weather the cape which
he had discovered, and he, therefore, named it CABO TOR-
MENTOSO — the Cape of Storms — a name which John,
the sanguine and enterprising king, changed to the CABO
DE BONA ESPERANZA, arguing the GOOD HOPE which
existed of the speedy discovery of the long-wished-for
route to the realms of " Ormus and of Ind." ^
The Eastern route found by the Portuguese was soon
followed by the Dutch. The names of the MAURITIUS
and the ORANGE RIVER were bestowed by them at the
time when, under the Stadtholder Maurice, Prince of
Orange, they were heroically striving against the colossal
power of Spain. This death-struggle for freedom did
not prevent them pursuing their discoveries in the
Eastern seas : and at the lowest point of their fortunes,
when all seemed likely to be lost, it was soberly proposed
to cut the dykes and leave the Spaniards the task of
once more reclaiming Holland from the waves, and for
themselves to embark their families and their wealth, and
seek in BATAVIA, a new eastern home for the Bata-
vian nation.
From their colonies of Ceylon and Java, the Dutch
* Cooley, History of Discovery, vol. i. p. 374.
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32 Names of Recent Otigin,
fitted out numerous expeditions to explore the then
unknown Southern Seas. Carpenter, a Dutch captain,
was the first to discover the northern portion of the
Australian continent His name is attached to the Gulf
of CARPENTARIA; and the "great island" in the gulf
bears the Dutch name of GROOTE EYLANDT, which he
gave to it The earliest circumnavigation of the new
southern continent was achieved by means of two vessels
of discovery, which were equipped by Antony VAN
DIEMEN, the Governor of Batavia, and entrusted to the
command of Abel Jansen TASMAN. new ZEALAND and
NEW HOLLAND, the chief fruits of this expedition, had
conferred upon them the names of two of the United
Provinces ; and on the discovery of a third large island,
an attachment as romantic as a Dutchman may be
supposed capable of feeling, caused the rough sailor, if
tradition speaks the truth, to inscribe upon our maps the
name of the beautiful daughter of the Batavian governor,
Maria Van Diemen.^
We may here briefly enumerate a few remaining dis-
coverers, whose names are found scattered over our maps.
DAMPIER's Archipelago and wafer Inlet bear the names
of William Dampier and Lionel Wafer, the leaders of a
band of West Indian buccaneers Who marched across the
Isthmus of Darien (each man provided only with four
cakes of bread, a fusil, a pistol, and a hanger), and who,
having seized a Spanish ship, continued for a long time
to be the terror of the Pacific. Kerguellen was an
^ In consequence of an ignorant prejudice, which was supposed to deter
intending colonists, the name of Van Diemen*8 Land, or Demon^s Land,
as it was called, has, after the lapse of two centuries, been changed to
TASMANIA, in honour of the sailor who preferred the fame of his mistress to
his own.
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Tasman, Bekring, and Vancouver. 33
officer in the French service, who, in the reign of Louis
XV., discovered the island called KERGUELLEN*S LAND ;
while JAN MEYEN, a Dutch whaling captain, has handed
down his obscure name by his re-discovery of that snow-
clad island cone, which forms such a striking frontispiece
to Lord DufTerin's amusing volume.
Behring, a Dane by birth, was sent by Peter the
Great to explore the eastern shores of Asia. He crossed
Siberia, and having constructed a small vessel on the
coast of Kamtschatka, he discovered the strait which
separates Asia from America. On his return from a
second expedition, his ship was wrecked, and the hardy
sailor, surrounded by the snows and ice of an Arctic
winter, perished miserably of cold, hunger, and fatigue,
on an island which bears his name.
At the instance of the British Government, Captain
VANCOUVER succeeded in surveying 9,000 miles of the
unknown western coast-line of America. His name
stands side by side with those of Hudson, Behring,
Franklin, and Cook — ^the martyrs of geographical science;
for the exposure and the toil which he underwent proved
fatal.
Mr. Bass, a naval surgeon, in an open whale-boat
manned by a crew of six men, made a voyage of 600
miles, which resulted in the discovery of BASS'S STRAITS,
which separate Van Diemen's Land from the Australian
continent.
The discoveries of Captain Cook are so well known,
that a brief reference to the names which he added to
our maps may here suffice. He was despatched to ob-
serve the Transit of Venus in 1769. In this expedition
he discovered the SOCIETY ISLANDS, so named from
the Royal Society, at whose instigation the expedition
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34 Names of Recent Origin.
had been undertaken; as well as the SANDWICH ISLANDS,
called after Lord Sandwich, the First Lord of the
Admiralty, who had consented to send it out. In his
second voyage, Captain Cook explored and named the
coast of NEW SOUTH WALES, the NEW HEBRIDES, NEW
CALEDONIA, NORFOLK ISLAND, ismd SANDWICH LAND.
We must not forget those Arctic explorers who,
within the last half-century, have added so largely to
our geographical knowledge. The names of MACKENZIE,
ROSS, PARRY, FRANKLIN, BACK, HOOD, RICHARDSON,
DEASE, SIMPSON, CROZIER, MACLURE, M'CLINTOCK, and
KANE, perpetually remind those who examine the map
of the Arctic regions, of the skill, the cours^e, and the
endurance of the brave men who have, at last, solved
the problem of three hundred years — ** the only thing of
the world yet left undone by which a notable minde
might be made famous."* Such names as REPULSE bay,
POINT TURNAGAIN, RETURN REEF, POINT ANXIETY,
the BAY OF MERCY, FORT ENTERPRIZE, FORT PRO-
VIDENCE, FURY BEACH, and WINTER HARBOUR recall
to the memory of the readers of Arctic adventure some
of the most thrilling passages in those narratives ; and,
at the same time, they form a melancholy record of the
difficulties, the hardships, the disappointments, and the
failures, which seemed only to braven the resolution and
to nerve the courage of men whom all Englishmen, are
proud to be able to call their fellow-countrymen.
Mention has already been made of the Sandwich
Islands and the Marquesas, as commemorating the
names of statesmen who have been instrumental in
furthering the progress of geographical discovery. Other
names of this class — ^prime-ministers, eminent statesmen,
I See p. i&
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Names of Statesmen and Princes, 35
lords of the admiralty, and secretaries of the navy — are
to be found in great profusion in the regions which have
most recently been explored. We may instance the
names of MELVILLE, DUNDAS, MELBOURNE, AUCKLAND,
BARING, BARROW, CROKER, BATHURST, PEEL, WELLING-
TON, and SYDNEY.i Port PHILLIP, BRISBANE, the River
DARLING, and MACQUARIE take their names from
governors of the Australian Colonies, and Lake SIMCOE
from a governor of Canada. BOOTHIA FELIX, grinnell
LAND, smith's SOUND, and jONES' SOUND commemorate
merchant-princes who fitted out exploring expeditions
fxom their private resources ; while the names of KING
GEORGE, QUEEN CHARLOTTE, the PRINCE REGENT,
KING WILLIAM, QUEEN ADELAIDE, VICTORIA, and
ALBERT are scattered so lavishly over our maps, as to
prove a serious source of embarrassment to the young
student of geography; while, at the same time, their
English origin testifies to the energy and success with
which, during the last hundred years, every comer of
the globe has been explored by Englishmen.
1 Chatham Island does not belong to this cla^ : it bean the name oi
the brig Chatham, by which it was discovered. Cf. Mt. er£BU$» fury
Beach, &c.
D 2
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36 Mthnologual Value of Local Names.
CHAPTER III.
THE ETHNOLOGICAL VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES.
Local names are the beacon-lights of primeval History — The method of
research illustrated by American Names — Recent progress of Ethnology —
The CdtSy Anglo-Saxons, and Northmen — Retrocession of the Sclaves-—
Arabic Names — Ethnology of mountain districts — The Alps,
Ethnology is the science which derives the greatest
aid from geographical etymolc^y. The names which
still remain upon our maps are able to supply us with
traces of the history of nations that have left us no other
memorials. Egypt has bequeathed to us her pyramids,
her temples, and her tombs ; Nineveh her palaces ; Judsea
her people and her sacred books ; Mexico her temple-
mounds; Arabia her science; India her institutions;
Greece her deathless literature ; and Rome has left us
her roads, her aqueducts, her laws, and the languages
which still live on the lips of half the civilized world.
But there are other nations which once played a pro-
minent part in the world's history, but which have be-
queathed no written annals, which have constructed no
monuments, whose language is dying or is dead, whose
blood is becoming mingled with that of other races.
The knowledge of the history and the migrations of
such tribes must be recovered from the study of the
names of the places which they once inhabited, but
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Names are the Beacon-lights of PHmeval History, 37
which now know them no more — ^from the names of the
hills which they fortified, of the rivers by which they
dwelt, of the distant mountains upon which they gazed.
As an eloquent writer has observed, "Mountains and
rivers still murmur the voices of nations long denation-
alized or extirpated."^ Language adheres to the soil
when the race by which it was spoken has been swept
from off the earth, or when its remnants have been
driven from the plains which they once peopled into the
fastnesses of the surrounding mountains.
It is mainly from the study of local names that we
must reconstruct the history of the Sclaves, the Celts,
and the Basques, as well as the earlier chronicles of the
Scandinavian and Teutonic races ; while from the same
source we are able to throw great light upon the more
or less obscure records of the conquests and.coloniza-
tions of the PhcEnicians, the Greeks, iK^.^^^pansr and*"*"^
the Arabs. In many instances, we cAff^lmus convert
dubious surmises into the clearest historical certainties.
The nomenclature of America, the nature of which
has been indicated in the preceding chapter, may serve
to explain the method by which etymological considera-
tions become available in ethnological inquiries. Here
we -have a simple case, where we possess documentary
evidence as to the facts which we might expect to be
disclosed by etymological investigations, and where we
can ^thus exhibit the method of research, and at the
same time test the value of the results to which it leads.
If we examine a map of America, we find names
derived from a dozen languages. We first notice a few
scattered Indian names, such as the POTOMAC, the
JIAPPAHANOCK, or NIAGARA. These names are sparsely
1 Palgraye, Normandy and England^ vqL i. p. 701.
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3? Ethnological Value of Local Names,
distributed over lai^e areas, some of them filled almost
exclusively with English names, while in others, the
names are mostly of Spanish or P<Mtuguese origin — ^the
boundary between the regions of the English and
Spanish, or of the Spanish and Portuguese names being
easily traceable. In Louisiana and Lower Canada we
find a predominance of French names, many of them
exhibiting Normand and Breton peculiarities. In New
York we find, here and there, a few Dutch names, as
well as patches of German names in Michigan and
Brazil. We find that the Indian, Dutch, and French
names have more frequently been corrupted than those
derived cither from the English or from the Spanish
languages. In New England we find names like SALEM
and PROVIDENCE; in Virginia we find such names as
JAMES River, Cape Charles, and Elizabeth County.
In many places the names of the Old World are re-
peated : we find a NEW ORLEANS, a NEW BRUNSWICK,
a NEW HAMPSHIRE, and the like.
If we were entirely destitute of any historical records
of the actual course of American colonization, it is
evident that, with the aid of the map alone, we might
recover many most important facts, and put together
an outline, by no means to be despised, of the early
history of the continent ; — we might successfully in*
vestigate the retrocession and extinction of the Indian
tribes — ^we might discover the positions in which the
colonies of the several European nations were planted
— ^we might show, from the character of the names,
how the gradually increasing supremacy of the Anglo-
American stock must have enabled it to incorporate,
and overlay with a layer of English names, the colonies
of other, nations, such as the Spanish settlements in
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The Method of Research, 39
Florida and Texas, the Dutch colony in the neighbour-
hood of New York, and the French settlements on the
St. Lawrence and the Mississippi. We might even go
further, and attempt to discriminate between the colonies
founded by Puritans and by Cavaliers ; and if we pos-
sessed a knowledge of English and French history, we
might assign approximate dates for the original founda-
tion of a large number of the several settlements. In
some cases we might be able to form probable conjec-
tures as to the causes and methods of the migration, and
the condition of the early colonists. Our investigations
would be much facilitated if we also possessed a full
knowledge of the /fw^w/ circumstances of the country —
if) for example. We knew that the English language now
forms the universal medium of communication through-
out large districts, which, nevertheless, are filled with
Spanish or French names ; or if we learned that in the
State of New York the Indian and Dutch languages are
tio longer spoken, while many old families bear Dutch,
but none of them Indian surnames. The study of the
local names, illustrated by the knowledge of such facts,
would enable us to reconstmct, in great part, the history
of the country, and would prove that succes^ve bands
of immigrants may forget their mother-tongue, and
abandon all distinctive national peculiarities, but that
the names which, on their first arrival) they bestowed
upon the places of their abode, are sure to remain upon
the ma^ as a permanent record of the nature and extent
of the original colonizations.
Centuries hence, when Macaulay's New Zealander
shall have succeeded in escaping from his perilous
position on the broken arch of London Bridge, and has
taken up his stand among certain fallen columns which
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40 Ethnological Value of Local Names,
mark the supposed site of the British Museum, there to
lament the destruction of the literary treasures which
might have enabled him to investigate the early history
of the land of his ancestors, he will do well to devote
himself to a comparison of the local names of New
Zealand with those of the United States ; and he will
find it easy to prove that the two countries must have
been peopled from the same source, and under circum-
stances not very dissimilar, and he might succeed in
recovering, from a comparison and analysis of English
and New Zealand names, many of those facts which he
fancied had been lost for ever.
We shall hereafter investigate classes of names which
present a perfect parallelism to those in America. In
the case of Spain, the Celtic, Phoenician, Arabic, and
Spanish names answer in many points to the strata of
Indian, Dutch, French, and English names which we
find superimposed in the United States ; while an
isolated name like Swedesboro*, in New Jersey, may be
compared with that of the town of ROZAS, which stands
upon the Gulf of RHODA — ^names which have handed
down the memory of the ancient Rhodian colony in
North-eastern Spain. Again, the Scandinavian names
scattered over a wide area throughout England, Ireland,
Scotland, France, Flanders, Iceland, and Greenland, pre-
sent a parallel to the names in the English colonies of
North America, Australia, and New Zealand.^ The
phenomena of the Old World are similar to those pre»
1 In Norway, as in England, a strict law of primogeniture has dispersed
the cadets of a fully -peopled country over a wide geographical area. In the
guards of Norway are to be found peasant proprietors, clad in homespun,
who are the lineal representatives of the elder line of the chief royal and noble
families of Western Europe, — See Lain^ Heimskringla, vol. l p. 109.
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A Novum Organum. 4X
sented in the New. In either case, from similar pheno-
mena we may draw similar inferences.
This method of research — the application of which has
been exhibited in the familiar instance of the United
States, where the results attained can be compared with
well-known facts — ^has of late years been repeatedly ap-
plied, and often with great success, to cases in which local
names are the only records which exist.
Wilhelm Von Humboldt was one of the pioneers in this
new science of etymological ethnology. On the maps of
Spain, France, and Italy he has marked out,^ by the
evidence of names alone, the precise regions which, before
the period of the Roman conquest, were inhabited by
those Euskarian or Iberic races who are now represented
by the Basques — the mountaineers of the Asturias and
the Pyrenees. He has also shown that large portions of
Spain were anciently Celtic, and that there was a central
zone inhabited by a mixed population of Euskarians and
Celts.
Archdeacon Williams,' in like manner, has indicated
the limits of the Celtic region in Northern Italy, and has
pointed out detached Celtic colonies in the central por-
tion of that peninsula. Mone,' Diefenbach,* Duncker,*
Brandes,*^ and other industrious explorers have followed
the wanderings of this ancient people through Switzerland,
Germany, and France, and have shown that, in those
countries, the Celtic speech still lives upon the map,
though it has vanished from the glossary.
1 Prufung der Untersuchungen iiber die Urbeivohner Hispanims.
* Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh^ vol. xiiL
s CelOsche Forschungen xur Geschichte Mitteleuropas.
* Celtica,
* Origines Germanica,
* Das Ethnographische Verhaltniss der Kelten und Germanen,
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42 Ethnological Value of Local Names,
From the evidence of local names .alone> Prichard^ has
demonstrated that the ancient Belgae were of Celtic, and
not of Teutonic race, as had previously been supposed.
So cogent is the evidence supplied by these names, that
ethnologists are agreed in setting aside the direct testi-
mony of sych a good authority as Caesar, who asserts that
the Belgae were of German blood."
In our own country, this method has afforded results
of peculiar interest and value. It has enabled us to
detect the successive tides of immigration that have
ilowed in ; just as the ripple-marked slabs of sandstone
record the tidal flow of the primeval ocean, so wave after
>yave of population — Gaelic, Cymric, Roman, Saxon,
Anglian, Norwegian, Danish, Norman, Frisian, and
Flemish — ^has left its mark upon the once shifting, but
now indurated sands of language.
Baxter and Lhuyd,* Chalmers,* Whitaker,* Skene,*
Robertson,' Gamett,* Davies,* Latham,* and other writers
have investigated the Celtic names of our own islands.
Not only have they shown that the whole of England
was once Celtic, but they have made it probable that the
Scottish lowlands were peopled by tribes belonging to
the Welsh and not to the Gaelic stock, thus clearing up
^ Researches inio the Physical History of Mankind^ yol. iii.
' Latham, English Language, vol L p. 12.
* Ghssarium AntiquiUUum Britannicarum, Appendix by Edward
Lhuyd.
* Caledonia,
» History of Manchester,
* History of the Highlandert.
^ Scotland under her early Kingi%
8 Papers in the Proceedings and Transactions of Philological Society^ and
in the Quarterly Review,
» English Language^ vol. i. pp. 363 — 367 ; Ethnology of the British
Isles,
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English Ethnology. 43
some of the disputed questions as to the affinities and
distribution of the Picts and Scots.
The study of Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian names
has been prosecuted by Leo/ Ingram," Kemble,' Worsaae,*
Ferguson,* Borring,* Depping,' Palgrave,' and Lappen*
berg.' They have shown how we may draw the line
between the Anglian and the Saxon kingdoms — ^how,
from the study of the names of the villages of Lincoln-
shire, of Leicestershire, of Caithness, of Cumberland, of
Pembrokshire, of Iceland, and of Normandy, we may
learn the almost-forgotten story of the fierce Vikings,
who left the fiords of Norway and the vies of Denmark,
to plunder and to conquer the coasts and kingdoms of
Western Europe.
By the use of the same method, Buttmann," Bender,^^
and Zeuss^^ have shown how we may investigate the ob-
scure relations of the tribes of Eastern Europe, and mark
the oscillations of the boundaries of the Sclaves and Ger-
mans, and even detect the alternate encroachments and
retrocessions of either race. Thus in Eastern Bavaria,
which is now a purely German district, we find scattered
Sclavonic names, more especially in the Valley of the
Naab.^* From the number and character of these names,
1 ReUiiudims Singuiarum Personarum*
s Appendix to Saxon Chronidc
* Codix DiplomatUus^ vol. iii. ; Saxons in England,
< Tlu Danes and Norwegians. ' The Northtnen in Cumberland,
* Sttr la limite Miridionale de la Monarckie Danoise.
' Histoire des Expeditions Maritimes des Normands.
* England and Normandy. ' Anglo-Norman iLtngs,
V Vie Deutschen Ortsnamen.
u Die Deutschen und die Nachharstdmme.
^ In the Aischthal, the presence of the Wends is denoted by names like
Brodswinden, Ratzenwinden, Poppenwind, Reinhardswind, &c. In Wiir-
tembeii^ we find Windischgriitz and Winnenden ; in Badei^ Windisohbuchi
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44 Ethnological Value of Local Names.
we may infer that, at some remote period,^ the Sclavo-
nians must have extended themselves westward much
beyond the present frontier of Bohemia,' even as far as
Darmstadt, where the River WESCHNITZ marks the ex^
treme western limit of Sclavonic occupancy. For several
centuries, however, the German language has been en-
croaching towards the east ; and the process is now going
on with accelerated speed. In Bohemia, where almost
every local name is Sclavonic, and where five-and-twenty
years ago few of the elder people knew any language
but their Bohemian speech, we find that the adults are
now universally able to speak German ; and in half a
century, there is every likelihood that the Bohemian
language will be extinct."
Farther to the north a similar process has also taken
place. Proceeding from west to east, the River BOMLITZ,
near Verden in Hanover, is the first Sclavonic name we
meet with. In Holstein, Mecklenburg, Luneburg, and
Saxony — ^in East and West Prussia — in Brandenburg
and Pomerania — ^we find numerous Sclavonic names,^
in Saxony, Wendischhayn ; in Brunswick, Wenden and Wendhausen ; in
Westphalia, Windheim and Wenden. — Schafarik, Slaw, Alterth, vol. i
p. 85 ; Bender,, Deutschen Ortsnamen, p. 31 ; Zeuss, Die Deutschen;
Latham, Nat, of Europe^ voL ii. pp. 321, 309.
^ It is probable that, in the fifth and sixth centuries, the Sdaves took
possession of the regions left vacant by the inroads of the Teutonic nations
toward the west and south ; while in the seventh and eighth centuries the
Germans began to recover the lost ground, and to drive ^e Sdaves to the
eastward. -
■ See Latham, English Language^ vol. i. p. 106 ; Nat. of Europe^ vol,
ji. p. 357; vol. i. p. 4; Germania^ p. 151 ; Philological Proceedings, voL iv.
p. 187. For a list of Sclavonic names in the Valley of the Mayn, see
Zeuss, Die Deutschen^ pp. 649, 650.
• Ansted, Trip to Hungary^ p. 79.
^ Zeuss, Die Deutschen und die Nachharstamtne^ p. 676; Bender,
Ortsnamen^ p. 90.
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Retrocession of the Sclaves. 45
such as POTSDAM,^ LEIPSIG, LOBAU, Of KULM, scattered
over an area which is now purely German. These names
gradually increase in frequency as we proceed eastward,
till, at lengthy in Silesia, we find that the local names
are all Sclavonic, although the people universally speak
German, except on the eastern rim of the Silesian basin,
where the ancient speech still feebly lingers.*
It will be manifest that this distribution of Sclavonic
names will greatly guide us in interpreting the obscure
hi^orical notices which relate to the great struggle by
which, in the ninth and tenth centuries, Mecklenburg,
Pomerania, Brandenburg, Silesia, Saxony, and part of
Courland were wrested by the Germans from the
Sarmatians.3
The names in Eastern Europe illustrate the maxim
that Ethnology must always be studied with due
reference to Hydrography. In rude times, the rivers
form the great highways. The Rhine, the Danube, and
the Elbe seem to have regulated the directions of the
early movements of nations. And the distribution of
Sclavonic names proves that the Sclaves must, originally,
have descended by the valleys of the Elbe and the
Mayn, just as the Germans descended by the valley of
the Danube, where we find a wedge or elbow of German
names protruding eastward into the Sclavonic region.
So, again, in Hungary we find that the central plains
are occupied by the Magyar shepherds from the
steppes of the Volga, while the original Sclavonic
I Potsdam is a Germanized form of the Sclavonic Potsdupimi. Forste-
mann, in Kuhn's Zeitschrift, vol. i p. 15.
* The phenomena, in fact, are analogous to those which are exhibited as
we proceed from Somersetshire, through Devonshire, to Cornwall.
' Ijitham, Man and his Migratums, p. 165.
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46 Ethnological Value of Local Names,
population has been driven to the mountain region
on either side.^ Still farther to the east we find the
isolated Saxon colony of Siebenbiiigen (Tfansylvania),
where, surrounded on all sides by Sclavonic, Magyar,
and Wallachian names, we find cities called Kronstadt,
Hermannstadt, Klaussenburg, Elisabethstadt, and Miih-
lenbach, which are inhabited by a population that has
been transferred from the Lower Rhine to the Lower
Danube. For seven centuries this little colony has
retained, unchanged, its own peculiar laws, language,
institutions, and customs. Siebenbiirgen, in fact,
presents a w^ell-conserved museum of mediaeval pecu-
liarities— a living picture of Ancient Germany, just as
in Iceland we find the language and customs of our
Scandinavian ancestors still subsisting, without any
material change.'
We find similar phenomena in the west and south.
Franche Comt6, Burgundy, and Lombardy contain
many di^;uised German names — evidences of ancient
conquests by Germanic tribes, which have now lost
their ancient speech, and have completely merged their
nationality in that of the conquered races.' In Alsace,
which has now become thoroughly French in feeling and
in language, the German names of the villages have
suffered no corruption during the short period which has
elapsed since the conquest under Louis XIV.
1 The Sclavonic inroad into Greece is well marked by local names, snch
as WALIGOST, which extend even into the Peloponnesus. — Zeuss, DU Deut-
schen, p. 634; Amdt, Europ, Spr, p. 105; Schafairik, Slawischi Alter-
thiimery voL it p. 226 ; Keferstein, Ktlf. AlUrth, vol iL p. 436.
> Ansted, Trip to Hungary and Transylvania^ pp. 30, 31.
* See Latham's Germania of Tacitus^ Epilegomena, pp. xxzix. and Iv. ;
Nationalities 0/ Europe, vol. ii. p. 283 ; Lewis, On the Romance LanguagUy
p. 18.
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. Ethnology of Mountain Districts, 47
' The Arabic names which we find in Asia, in Africa, in
Spain, in Sicily, in Southern Italy, in Provence, and even
in some valleys of the Alps, tell us of the triumphs of
the Crescent from the Indus to the Loire. In some
instances, these names even disclose the manner in which
the Mahometan hosts were recruited for the conquest of
Europe from the valley of the Euphrates and the borders
of the Sahara ; and we can trace the settlement of these
far-travelled conquerors in special valleys of Spain or
Sicily.
In mountainous regions, the etymological method
of ethnological research is of special value, and yields
ce^ults more definite than elsewhere. Among the
mountains the botanist and the ethnologist meet with
analogous phenomena. The lowland flora of the glacial
Q>och has retreated to the Grampians, the Carpathians,
the Alps, and the Pyrenees ; ^ and in like manner we
find that the hills contain the ethnological sweepings of
the plains. Mountain fastnesses have always formed a
providential refuge for conquered tribes. The narrow
valleys which penetrate into the great chains are well
^apted to preserve for a time the isolation of unrelated
tribes of refugees, to hinder the intermixture of race, and
thus preserve from extermination or absorption those,
who should afterwards, at the right time, blend gradually
with the conquerors of the plains, and supplement their
moral and intellectual deficiencies.^
Instances of this peculiar ethnological character of
mountain districts will occur to every one. The
Bengalees, though they are in geographical contact
with the hill tribes of India, are yet, in blood, further
I See Darwin, On the Origin of Species^ pp. 365 — 369,
* Goldwin Smith, IHsh History and Irish Character^ p. 14.
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48 Ethnological Value of Local Names.
removed from them than from ourselves. Strabo informs
us that in his day no less than seventy langfuages were
spoken in the Caucasus, and the number of distinct
dialects is probably, at the present time, quite as large.
Here, in close juxtaposition, we find archaic forms of
various Georgian, Mongolian, Persian, Semitic, and
Tatarian languages, as well as anomalous forms of
speech which bear no affinity to any known tongfue of
Asia or of Europe.^
In the Pyrenees we find the descendants of the
Euskarians, who have been driven from the lowlands
of France and Spain. The fastnesses of Wales and
of the Scotch Highlands have enabled the Celts of
our own island to maintain their ancient speech and a
separate existence. An inspection of the map of the
British Isles will show that The Peak of Derbyshire
and the mountains of Cumberland retain a greater
number of Celtic names than the adjacent districts;
and the hills of Devonshire have served as a barrier
to protect the Celts of Cornwall from the Anglo-Saxon
conquerors.
But Switzerland is the most notable instance of the
ethnological interest attaching to a mountainous district.
In a country only twice the size of Wales, the local
names^ are derived from half a dozen separate languages,
three or four of which are still spoken by the people,
while in some districts almost every village preserves its
^ Lyell, Antiquity of Man^ p. 460; Max Miiller, Lectures^ p. 52 ; Knobd,
Vblkertafdt p. 14 ; Pott, Ungleichheit d. tnenschlicher Rassen^ p. 238, apud
Renan, Orig, du Langagg, p. 176; Latham, Nationalitia of Europe^ voL i.
p. 294.
' An admirable monograph on the local names in Canton Zurich, by
Dr. Meyer, will be found in the Mittheilungen der Antiq, Gesellschaft in
Zurich^ voL vi. pt i.
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Switzerland. 49
separate dialect.^ Thus, in the Cantons of Neufch&tel,
Vaud, Geneva, and in the western part of the Vaiais,
French is the prevailing language. In the northern and
central cantons, which were divided among Burgundian,
Alemannic, and Suevic tribes, various high German
dialects are spoken ;* while in Canton Ticino, and in
portions of the Grisons, Italian is the only language
understood. The Romansch language, spoken in the
upper valley of the Rhine, is a debased Latin, with a few
Celtic, German, and, possibly, some Iberic and Etruscan
elements.^ In the Upper Engadine we find the
Ladino, another Latin dialect,* distinct from the Ro-
mansch ; while throughout the whole of Switzerland,
numerous Celtic names* show traces of a still earlier
wave of population, of which no othef evidence remains.
Not only has the region of the Alps been the immemorial
abode of Celts, but there also we find indications of
1 PUmta, Romansch Language, p. 144; AdduDg, Mithridates, vol. ii.
p. 602 ; Lewis, Romance Languages, p. 46. Stalder, Du Landes-spracfun
der Sckweizj pp. 273 — ^418, gives specimens of thirty-five dialects of German,
sixteen of French, five of Romansch, and eight of Italian, which are spoken
in the several Swiss cantons.
' German Switzerland is mainly Alemannic, French Switzerland is mainly
Bnrgundian. In Berne, however, as well as' in portions of Freiburg,
Latzem, and Argau, the Burgundians have retained their German speech.
Grimm, Gesch. d, Deui, Spr. p. 703.
' For instance, in the dialect of Groeden. Niebuhr, Hist, Rome, vol. i.
p. 113. A list of Romansch words which are possibly Etruscan, will be
found in Tschudi, HauptscklUssd, pp. 289^ 290. See also Steub's works.
* See Lechner, Piz Languard, p. 28.
An analysis of the names in Canton Zurich shows the following
proportions : —
e 9 cities. (3f 000 homesteads.
Celtic { 100 important rivers, moun- Alemannic | 100 hamlets.
\ tarns, and villages. ( 20 villages.
The other names are of modem German origin. — Meyer, Ortsnamen,
p. 75.
£
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50 Ethnological Value of Local Names.
fragments of intrusive races — the meteoric stones of
Ethnology. Thus, in the Valley of Evolena, there are
traces of the former presence of a race of doubtful origin
— possibly Huns or Alans, who long retained their heath-
enism.^ In some valleys of the Orisons there are names
which suggest colonies from Southern Italy; for example,
LAVIN, which is apparently a reproduction of Lavinium,
and ARDETZ, of Ardea.* Mommsen, a high authority,
believes the Rhoetians of the Orisons and the Tyrol to
be the descendants of an ancient Etruscan stock ;^ while
other valleys in the Valais and the Orisons astound us
by the phenomenon of Arabic names, for whose presence
we shall presently endeavour to account
On the Italian side of the Alps we find valleys filled
with Sclavonic names, besides many isolated villages of
Teutonic colonists,* who still keep themselves distinct
1 Forbes, Alp, p. 289 ; Diefenbach, Celtica^ L p. 238.
■ Witte, Alpinisches und Transalpinisches, p. 124 ; Planta, Ramansch
Langmge, p. 134.
* The village-names of Tilisuna, Blisadona, Trins, Vels, Tschars, Natums,
Velthurns, Schluderns, Villanders, Gufidaun, Altrans, Sistrans, Axams,
and othera, bear a remarkable resemblance to those Etruscan names with
which we are acquainted. Compare also the names Tusis and Tuscany,
Rhoetia and Rasenna. This subject is discussed at great length in two
works of Ludwig Steub, Ueber die Urbewohmr RdHms, und ihren Mttsam-
menhang mit dm Etruskem, and Zur Rdlischen Eihnologie. Cf. Tschudi,
Hauptschliissd tu verschiedenm AlUrthunumy p. 290 ; Adelung, Afithri'
dates, vol. il p. 598 ; Mommsen, Hist. Rotm, vol. L p. 108 ; Inhabitants
of Italy, p. 56; Newman, Regal Rome, p. 10 1; Note by Latham in
Prichard's Eastern Origin of Celtic Nations, pp. 87—90 ; Niebuhr, Hist,
Rome, vol L p. 113, and voL ii. p. 525; Dennis, Etruria, voL L pp.
xxxiv. xlv. ; Pott, Indo-Germ. Spr, p. 25 ; Planta, Romansck Language^
p. 132.
^ Thus in the valley of the Tagliamento, north of Venice, We find the
Sclavonic village-names, gniva, stolvizza, and others, and the mountains
POSGOST, STOLAC, and ZLEBAC. 2^eus8, Die Deutsclun, p. 617 ; Tjit^ftm^
Nat. of Europe, vol il p. 283; Biondelli, Studii lAnguistici, p. 55.
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German Colonies South of the Alps. 51
from their Italian neighbours, and who speak a German
dialect more or less corrupt. The German-speaking
villages are often surrounded by a penumbra of German
local names, which prove that the little settlement must
formerly have occupied a more extensive area than at
present' It is difficult to say whether these intrusive
populations did, at some remote period, cross the passes
and take possession of the unoccupied Italian valleys, or
whether they are fragments thrown off at the time of
either the Bui^undian or the Lombardic invasions, and
which the isolation of the mountain-valleys has pre-
vented from becoming Italianized. In the case of the
valleys of Macugnaga, Gressonay, Alagna, Sermenta,
Pommat, and Sappada, we may, perhaps, incline to the
former supposition; while with regard to the Sette
Comuni, near Vicenza, and the Tredici Comuni, near
Verona, which still retain their Lombard-German speech,
the latter hypothesis may be the more probable."
1 In some valleys the German language has become entirely extinct. In
Omavasco, north of the Lago Maggiore, this has taken place within the
memory of persons now living. Latham, Nat, of Eur, vol. ii. p. 283.
The npper part of the Val d'Ayas is called Canton des Allemands, though
no German is now spoken there. — See Schott, Die Deutscken am Monte
Rasa,
« See Forbes, Alps, p. 330; Tour of Mont Blanc, p. 266 ; King, Italian
Valleys^ p. 449; Latham, Nationalities of Europe, vol. ii. p. 282 ; Germania^
p. xl. ; Lewis, Romance Languages, p. 97 ; Bionddli, Studii Linguistici^
pp. 47 — ^54 ; Gilbert and Churchill, Dolomite Mountains, p. 379 ; Steub,
Zur Rdtischen EthnoL pp. 56 — 65. On the valleys of Macugnaga, &c. see
two capital monographs by Schott, Die Deutscken am Monte Rosa, and Die
Deutscken Colonien in Piedmont, The best account of the Sette and
Tredici Comuni is by Schmeller, Ueber die sogenannten Cimhem aufden
Venediscken Alpen, Till the beginning of the present century they formed
an independent republic. Schmeller, p. 563. They speak a Platt-deutsch
dialect, and call themselves Cimbri. A peasant, if asked, will tell you, '* Ich
pin an Cimbro." Schmeller, p. 565. Eustace, Classical Tour, voL i. p.
142, and Crichton, Scandinavia, vol. i. p. 69, accept the local tradition
K 2
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5 2 Ethnological Valtie of Local Names.
We shall proceed to fill up some portions of the out-
line which has just been traced, and endeavour to
decipher from the map of Europd the history of the con-
quests and immigrations of some of the chief races that
have succeeded one another upon the stage.
which makes them the remains of the Cimbrian horde which was over-
thrown by Marins in the neighbourhood of Verona. See Notes and
Queries^ vol. i. p. 176 ; Biondelli, Studii Linguistici, p. 53 ; Amdt, Eur,
Spr, p. 105. J. K. [enrick?], in Journal of Education, vol. vi p. 353,
thinks they are the remains of German mercenaries.
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Ethnic Names are of Obscure Origin. S3
CHAPTER IV.
THE NAMES OF NATIONS.
Ethnic Names are of obscure origin — Name of BritcUn^Many nations hear
duplicate names-- Deutsche and Germans — " Barbarians ** — IVelsh — Gaels
— Aryans — Names of conquering Tribes — Ancient Ethnic Names con-
served in those of modern cities — Ethnic Names from rulers — From geo"
graphiccU position — Europe — Asia — Africa — Ethnographic Names —
" Warriors'*—" Mountaineers'*— "Lowlanderr''—*' Foresters"— " Coast-
landers''— Greehs.
The names borne by nations and countries are natu-
rally of prime importance in all ethnological investi-
gations. They are not lightly changed, they are often
cherished for ages as a most precious patrimony, and
therefore they stretch back far into the dim Past,
thus affording a clue which may enable us to discover
the obscure beginnings of separate national existence.
But, unfortunately, few departments of etymology are
beset with more difficulties, or are subject to greater
uncertainties. Some of those ethnic names which have
gained a wide application had at first a very restricted
meaning, as in the case of ITALY or ASIA ; ^ others, like
that of the Romans, may have arisen from special local
circumstances, of which we can have only a conjectural
1 See pp. 77, 87, infra ; and Newman, E^al Rome^ p. 6.
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54 The Nantes of Nations.
or accidental knowledge ; ^ others, again, as in the case
of LORRAINE,^ may be due to causes which, if history-
be silent, the utmost etymological ingenuity is powerless
to recover. It is only here and there, as in the case of
the UNITED STATES, LIBERIA, ECUADOR, the BANDA
ORIENTAL, or the ARGENTINE REPUBLIC,*^ that we find
countries bearing names which have originated within
the historic era, and the meaning of which is obvious.
But the greater number of ethnic names are of great
antiquity, and their elucidation has often to be sought
in languages with which we possess only a fragmentary
acquaintance. Frequently, indeed, it is very difficult —
sometimes impossible — ^to discover even the language
from which any given ethnic name has been derived.
It is not needful to travel far for an illustration of the
mode in which this difficulty presents itself — ^the name
of our own country will supply us with an instance.
The BRITISH people, the inhabitants of GREAT BRITAIN,
are, we know, mainly of Teutonic blood, and they speak
one of the Teutonic languages. None of these, how-
ever, affords any assistance in the explanation of the
name. We conclude, therefore, that the Teutonic colo-
nists must have adopted an ethnic appellation belonging
to the former inhabitants of the country. But the
Celtic aborigines do not seem to have called themselves
1 The name of Roma is periuips from the Groma^ or four cross-roads
at the Forum, which formed the nucleus of the city. See Donaldson,
VarronianuSf pp. 60, 270. Other plausible conjectures will be found in
Curtius, Grundiuge, vol. iL p. 261 ; Mommsen, Hist, of Honu, vol i.
p. 44 ; and Pott, Etym, Farsch» vol. ii. p. 2S4.
■ See p. 74, infra.
> Ecuador is the republic of the " Equator ; " the Banda Oriental occupies
the ** eastern bank," and the Argentine Republic the western bank of the
Rio dc la Plata, or River of the " Silver."
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. Name of Britain. 55
by the name of Britons, nor can any complete and satis-
factory explanation of the name be discovered in any of
the Celtic dialects. We turn next to the classic lan-
guages, for we find, if we trace the literary history of
the name, that its earliest occurrence is in the pages of
Greek, and afterwards of Latin writers. The word,
however, is utterly foreign both to the Greek and to
the Latin speech. Finally, having vainly searched
through all the languages spoken by the diverse races
which, from time to time, have found a hon\e upon these
shores — Shaving exhausted all the resources of Indo-
European philology without the discovery of any
available Aryan root, we turn, in despair, to the one
remaining ancient language of western Europe. We
then discover how great is the real historical significance
of our inquiry, for the result shows that the first chapter
of the history of our island is in reality written in its
name — ^we find that this name is derived from that
family of languages of which the Lapp and the Basque
are the sole living representatives ; and hence, we rea-
sonably infer that the earliest knowledge of the island,
which was possessed by any of the civilized inhabitants
of Europe, must have been derived from the Iberic
mariners of Spain,^ who either in their own ships, or in
those of their Punic masters, coasted along to Brittany,
and thence crossed to Britain, at some dim pre-historic
period. The name Bx-itan-'i^, contains, it would seem,
the Euskarian suffix etan, which is used to signify a
district or country.* We find this suffix in the names of
1 Niebnhr, JJist. Rome^ vol. ii. p. 522 ; Arnold, Hist, Rome^ vol. u
p. 489.
* This is the explanation usually given, but it would be more correct to
saj that etan is the plural of an^ the suffixed locative preposition, or sign of
the locative case. See Boudard, Numaiis, Ibhr, pp. 94, 93 ; and a tract by
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$6 The Names of Nations.
many of the districts known to, or occupied by the
Iberic race. It occurs in Ko^-itanAsL, or Aquitaine, in
Lus-z/^^-ia, the ancient name of Portugal, in Maur-
etan-vdiy the '* country of the Moors," as well as in the
names of very many of the tribes of ancient Spain,
such as the Qtxr-etanAy Aus-etan-i, "Lal-etan-i, Cos-etan-i,
Yesc-itan-i, Lac-^/^«-i, Carp-etanA, Ov-etan-iy Bast-//a»-i,
TwrA-etan-i, Suess-^/a«-i, Ed-etan-i, and others.
This illustration not only indicates the value of the
results which may accrue from the investigation of ethnic
names, but it will also serve to show how difficult it may
often be to determine even the language from which the
explanation must be sought.
In attempting to lay down general principles to guide
us in our investigations, we have in the first place to deal
with the remarkable phenomenon — an instance of which
has just presented itself — that the greater number of
ethnic names are only to be explained from languages
which are not spoken by the people to whom the name
applies. Most nations have, in fact, two, or even a
greater number of appellations.^ One name, by which
the nation calls itself, is used only within the limits of
the country itself; the other, or cosmopolitan name, is
that by which it is known to neighbouring tribes.
the same writer Sur un suffixe Ibhun^ in the Revue ArcfUologiqtUy xi.
pp. 562 — 567 ; Adelung's MithridateSf vol. ii. p. 26. The first syllable, bro,
briy or brii, is possibly Iberic, or more probably it may be a Celtic glosa
(Brezonec, brot a country, which appears in the name of the AUo^^-ges),
to which the Iberic etan was appended. Humboldt, Priifung der Unier-
suchungm^ pp. 62, 63, 143 ; Prichard, Researches^ voL iil p. 28 ; Philoiog.
TtansactionSf vol. i. p. 176 j Pott, EtymoL Forschung, vol. ii. pp. 42, 582 ;
Renan, Lang, Sitnit, p. 203 ; Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman
Geogr, 8. v. Britannicse Insulae, voL i p. 434. Cf. Diefenbach, CelHca^ IL
pp. 59 — 63; De Belloguet, Ethnog, vol. i. p. 251.
I See Mahn, Nam, Preuss, pp. 4, 8 ; Verstegan, Restitution^ p. 46.
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Most Nutions bear Duplicate Names. $7
Thus, the people of England call themselves the En-
glish, while the Welsh, the Bretons, the Gaels of Scotland,
the Irish, and the Manxmen, respectively, call us Saeson,
Saoz, Sasunnaich, and Sagsonach.^ The natives of Wales
do not call themselves the Welsh, but the Cymry. The
people to the east of the Rhine call themselves Deutsche,
the French call them Allemands, we call them Germans,
the Sclavonians call them Niemiec, the Magyars call them
Schwabe, the Fins call them Saksalainen, the Gipsies call
them Ssasso.^ The people whom we call the Dutch call
themselves Nederlanders, while the Germans call them
Hollanders. The Lapps call themselves Sabme, the Fins
call themselves Quains. Those whom we call Bohemians
call themselves Czechs. The Germans call the Sclavo-
nians, Wends, but no Sclavonian knows himself by this
name.^
The origin of these double names is often to be ex-
plained by means of a very simple consideration. Among
kindred tribes, in a rude state of ci\dIization, the concep-
tion of national Unity is of late growth. But it would
be natural for all those who were able to make them-
selves mutually intelligible, to call themselves collectively
" The Speakers," or ** The People," while they would call
^ See Grimm, GeschichU der Deut, Sprache^ voL il p. 658 ; SouTestre,
JDemurs Britons^ voL i. p. 219.
s This name affords a curious piece of evidence as to the road by which
the gipsies entered Europe. It would seem that the first German people
which became known to them must have been the Saxon colony in Tran-
sylvania. See Pott, DU Zigmner in Europa und Asietty vol. i. p. 53.
Another indication that the gipsies immigrated by the valley of the Danube,
is the name Romani, by which they call themselves. This is the enchorial
appellation of the Wallachians, among whom, therefore, it would appear
that the gipsies must have been domiciled. See, however, Pott, Indo-
Germ, Sprach. p. 42; Adelung, MithridateSy vol. i. p. 237.
s Adelung, MUhridates^ vol. ii. p. 655.
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58 The Natnes of Nations.
those neighbouring races, whose language they could not
understand, by some word meaning in their own language
"The Jabberers," or "The Strangers." ^
A very large number of ethnic names can be thus ex-
plained.
The Sclavonians call themselves' either SLOWJANE,
" the intelligible mfen," or else SRB, which means " Kins-
men," while the Germans call them WENDS, which means
" Wanderers," or " Strangers."
The Basques call themselves the EUSCALDUNAC,'
"Those who have speech." The LELEGES are "The
Speakers," * the SABiEANS are the " Men," and the name
of SHEBA or SEBA is referable to the same root* All the
Sclavonic nations call the Germans NIEMIEC,* **the dumb
1 See a paper by J. K. [enrick], On the Names of the Ante-Hellenic
Inhabitants of Greece^ inthe Philolo^. Museum, vol. i. pp. 609 — 627; Amdt,
JEur, S/r. pp. 251, 303 ; Strinnholm, Wikin£[2iige, p. 284 ; Renan, Origine
du Langage, p. iSo.
• Schafarik, Slawische Alterthiimer, vol. i. p. 180; vol. ii p. 42;
Arndt, Eur, Spr, p. 93; Zeuss, Deutschen, p. 68; Pott, Etym, Forsch,
voL ii. p. 521; Indo-Germ, Spr. p. 107; Adelnng, Directorio fur Sud-
Sach, Spr, quoted in Mithridates, voL il p. 612.
' From euscara, speech ; dunac, those who have. Mahn, Namen Preuss.
p. 9 ; Adelung, Mithridates, voL iL p. 12 ; Humboldt, Priifung, p. 57.
• Philological Museum, vol. i. p. 616.
■ The Getes or Goths are, perhaps, the "kinsmen." Pictet, Orig,
Indo-Eur. pt L p. 84. The names of the Achseans, the Sacse, and the
Saxons may be of kindred meaning. See Gladstone, Homer, vol i p. 558.
Gltick thmks the Cymry are the "people. " Kelt, Namen, p. 26. The Samo-
jedes call themselves Chasowo, the " men." Muller, Ugr. Volks, vol i.
p. 313 ; Amdt, Eur, Spr, pp. 247, 326.
• Strictly speaking, they are called Niemiec by the Poles, Nemec by the
Bohemians and Bulgarians, Njemc by the Lusatians, and Njemetz by the
Russians. Grimm, Gesch, der DeuL Spr, p. 780; Leo, in Kuhn*s Zeiischrift^
vol il p. 258 ; Max Miiller, Lectures, p. 83 ; Pott, Etym, Forsch, voL iL
p. $21; Schafarik, Slaw, Alt, vol. i. p. 443; Zeuss, Deutschen, p. 68.
The Gipsies call the Lithuanians, Lalerri, " The dumb." Pott, art. Ind^
Germanischer Sprackstamm, in Ersch and Gruber, p. 44.
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Deutsche — Allemands — Germans. 59
men.^* The earliest name by which the Germans desig-
nated themselves seems to have been TUNGRI,^ "Those who
have tongues," the "Speakers." This name was succeeded
by the term DEUTSCHE,* "the People," "the Nation," a
name which still holds its ground. We have borrowed
this national appellation of the Germans, but curiously
enough we have limited its use to that portion of the
Teutonic race on which the Germans themselves have
bestowed another name.'
But while the Germans call themselves " The People,"
the name given to them by the French means "The
Foreigners." The French word ALLEMAND is modern-
ized from the name of the Alemanni, the ancient frontier
tribe between Germania and Gaul. The Alemanni seem
to have been a mixed race — partly Celtic, partly Teu-
tonic, in blood. The name is itself Teutonic, and pro-
^ Tacitus, Germaniay cap. 2 : Grimm, Gesch, der Dettt, Spr, p. 788 ;
Donaldson, EngUsh Ethnog, p. 38; Mahn, Namen Preuss, p. 9. The
QUADI are the speakers. Cf. the Sanskrit, wady to speak, and the Anglo-
Saxon cwediy and Welsh ckwed^ speech. So the jazyges derived their name
from the Sclavonic word/eiM(, the tongue.
' The form in which this name first appears suggested to Von Hammer
the possibility that it niight have been fonned by the conjunction of the
definite article and the root of the German vror^Leuiey people— the Roman
laii. This Pott rightly pronounces to be '' vollig unhaltbar," Eiym. Forsch,
voL il p. 518. Dr. Donaldson derives the name of the Letts, Lithuanians,
and even of the Latins from the same root Donaldson, Varronianus^
p. 62. See, however, p. 85, infra. On the etymology of the word Deutsche,
see Grimm, Gesch, derDmL Spr, pp. 789, seq. ; Leo, in Kuhn's Zatschrift^
▼oL iL pp. 255 — 257 : Leo, Vorlesungen, vol. i p. 192 ; Leo, Rectitudinesy
p. 137 ; Diefenbach, VergleUh, Wbrterb, vol. il pp. 705 — 708 ; Zeuss, Die
Deutsckitty pp. 63, 64 ; Latham, English Language^ vol i. pp. 289—297 ;
Miiller, Marken^ pp. 218 — 230; Pott, Eiym, Forsch, vol ii. p. 521 ; Indfh
Germ, Spr, p. 95 ; Bergmann, Les Giies, pp. 74, 75.
* It seems to have been only in the seventeenth century that the applica-
tion of the word dutch was restricted to the Low Germans. See Arch-
bishop Trench, Glossary ^ p. 65.
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6o The Names of Natiofis.
bably means " Other Men " or " Foreigners/' and thus,
curiously enough, the French name for the whole German
people has been derived from a tribe whose very name
indicates that its claims to Teutonic blood were disowned
by the rest of the German Tribes.^
The English name for the same nation has been
adopted from the Latin term, GERMANIA. It must have
been from the Celts of Gaul that the Romans obtained
this word, which seems foreign to all the Teutonic lan-
gfuages. The etymology has been fiercely battled over ;
the most reasonable derivation is, perhaps, that suggested
by Professor Leo, from the Gaelic gaimtean, one who
cries out,* and the name either alludes to the fierce war-
cry of the Teutonic hordes, or more probably it expresses
the wonder with which the Celts of Gaul listened to the
unintelligible clash of the harsh German gutturals.
The Russians call the contiguous Ugrian tribes by
the name TSCHUDES, a Slavonic word which means
«
> The al in Alemanni is probably, the a/ in oTms and v^/satia, or the el
in //se and ^/sass, not the al in all. Thus the Alemanni are the " other
men," not the "all men" or "mixed men," as is usually supposed.
Compare the a/ in Allobroges. Latham, Germania^ Epileg. p. liii. ; Pott,
Etymolog, Forsch, vol. iL pp. 523—526; Zeuss, 'Die Deutschen^ p. 318;
Forstemann, Ortsnamen, p. 132 ; Menage, Origines^ pp. 27, 31 ; Diefen-
bach, CelHca^ i. p. 17; Orig, Eur. p. 224; Gliick, Kelt, Namen^ p. 26;
Smith, Diet, of Geography ^ art. Germania ; Latham, Nationalities of Europe^
vol. iL p. 322; Leo, Vorlesungen^ vol i. p. 245; Miiller, Afor>6wf, pp. 213,
216; Bos worth, Origin^ p. 120.
• See Leo, in Haupt*s Zeitschrift^ vol. v, p. 5x4 ; Smith, Diction. ofGeogr^
vol i. p. 993 ; Grimm, Gesch. der Deui, Spr. pp. 785—788 ; Gladstone,
Horner^ vol i. p. 554 ; Latham, English Language^ vol. i. pp. 286 — 289 ;
Bosworth, Origin^ p. 12; Bergmann, Gites, pp. 76—79; Mahn, Nam.
Preuss, p. I; Forbiger, Alt, Geogr. vol. iii. pp. 3x4, 315; Keferstein,
Kelt. Alt, vol. i, pp. xxiL, 293; vol. ii. p. 366; Radlof, Neue Untersuch,
pp. 241 — 255 ; Amdt, Eur. Spr. p. 1 14. Dr. Latham refeis the word
German to Uie Turkish Kerman^ a castle 1 Nat, of Europe^ vol. ii.
p. 215.
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Barbarians. 6i
"Strangers" or "Barbarians."^ The PHILISTINES are,
probably, the " Strangers " * and if this be the true mean-
ing of the name, it strengthens the supposition that this
warlike people arrived in Palestine by sea, probably from
Crete,* during the anarchic period which succeeded to the
Israelitish conquest under Joshua, The names of the
African and Asiatic KAFFIRS, of the PERIZZITES, of the
lONlANS,* and of the FLEMINGS are also nearly identical
in meaning with those of the Philistines, Allemands, and
Tschudes.* The word Barbarian was applied by the
Egyptians, and afterwards by the Greeks and Romans,
to all who did not speak their own language.* The
root barbar may be traced to the Sanskrit varvara, " a
foreigner," or ** one who speaks confusedly," and, accord-
ing to the opinion of the best scholars, it is undoubtedly
onomatopoeian.^ So also in the case of the HOTT-EN-
1 Prichard, Researches^ voL UL p. 273 ; Miiller, Marken des VaterL vol. i.
p. 219 ; Latham, Nat. of Europe^ vol. i. p. l6i ; Amdt, Eur, Spr, p. 323.
* Knobel, Vblkertafd^ p. 218; Stanley, Sinai and Palest, p. 256;
Movers, Phonizien^ in Ersch und Gruber, p. 327.
* I am inclined to regard this emigration from Crete as a result of the
Dorian conquest of that island. The two events seem to have been syn-
chronous, or nearly so. Compare Bochart, vol. iii. p. 422, with MiiUer's
Dorians^ vol, i. p. 494; Hoeck, Kreta^ vol. ii. pp. 16, 368, 417, seq, ;
Stanley, Jewish Church, p. 287 ; Movers, Die Phonixier, part L pp. 4, 27 ;
and part ii. vol. ii. p. 254; Renan, Lat^, SimU, p. 54 ; Ewald, Volk, Isr.
voL i. p. 292.
< See p. 87, infra,
* Pott, EtynioL Forschungen, voL IL p. 527 ; Renan, Langues Shniiiques,
pt i. pp. 30, no; Miiller, Marken^ voL i. pp. 159, 210; Knobel, Volker-
ta/el, pp. 169, 177 ; Movers, Phonizier, vol. ii. pt. L p. 12 ; Phbnisaen, in
Ersch und Gruber, p. 328. Flemd, the root of Fleming, means fugitive.
De Smet, Noms, p. la
* Holzapfel, in Hofer's Zeitschrift^ voL iv. p. 240; Kenrick, Ancient
Egypt, vol. ii. p. 248.
^ Pictet, Origines IndO'EuropSennes, pt. i. pp. 57, 55 ; Curtius, GrundzUge
der Griech, Etym. vol. L p. 255 ; Weber, Indische Shiaen, p. 9 ; Renan,
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62 The Names of Nations.
TOTS we find a name which is supposed to have been
given by the Dutch in imitation of the characteristic click
of the Hottentot language, which sounds like a repetition
of the sounds hot and toty
Few Ethnic names are more interesting than that of
the WELSH. The root enters into a very large number of
the Ethnic names of Europe, and is, perhaps, ultimately
onomatopoeian. It has been referred to the Sanskrit
mlicky which denotes "a person who talks indistinctly," —
"a jabberer." 2 The root appears in German, in the
form U)al, which means anything that is " Foreign " or
"strange." Hence we obtain the German words trailer*
a stranger or pilgrim, and toaOen to wander, or to move
about. A walnut is the " foreign nut," and in Grerman a
turkey is called SBaldc^e ^a^n, " the foreign fowl," and a
French bean is aBdftc^e bo^ne, the " foreign bean." All
nations of Teutonic blood have called the bordering
Langues Shniliques, pt. i. p. 35 ; Orig, du Lang. p. 178 ; Lassen, Ind, Alt.
vol. i. p. 855 ; Miiller, Marken^ p. 185 ; Philohg. Museum, voL i. p. 611 ;
Max Miiller, in Kuhn*s ZeUschrift, vol. v. pp. 141, 142.
^ Farrar, Origin of Langucigey p. 76. Compare the onomatopoeian name
of the ZAMZUMMIN, the Aborigines of Palestine. Renan, Lang* Shn.
p. 35; Orig. duLang, p. 1 17.
• The Sanskrit m often becomes w in Gothic ; thus, from mleU, to fade,
we have vlacian, to flag, wclktn, to wither, and the name of the soft moUosk
called a whelk. According to this phonetic law, from the Sanskrit mlick
we obtain the German wlack, walachj and Wialch. See an Essay on Walk^n
und Deutsche, by Professor Leo, in Kuhn's Zeitschrifi, voL ii. pp. 252 — 255 ;
Pictet, Orig, Indo-Euro, pt i. p. 57 ; Renan, Lang, Shnit, part I p. 3S ;
Orig, du Lang. pp. 178, 179; Lassen, Ind. Alt, voi. L p. 855; Leo,
Vorlesungen, vol. i. p. 43.
• The word waller, a pilgrim, no longer survives in English except as a
surname ; but we retain the derivative, wallet, a pilgrim^s equipage. It may
be noted ihtX perigrinare and pilgrim are filially connected in the same way
as wallen and waller. With wallen, to wander, are connected the words
to walk, and to valu or waltz, Diefenbach, Vergl. Worterb, vol. i. pp.
189, 181.
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WelsJL 63
tribes by the name of SdMc^e, that is, Welshmen, or
"foreigners." We trace this name around the whole
circuit of the region of Teutonic occupancy. SBartc^Ianb,
the German name of Italy, has occasioned certain incom-
prehensible historical statements relating to Wales, in a
recent translation of a German work on mediaeval history.
The Bernese Oberlander calls the French-speaking dis-
trict to the south of him, by the name of Canton WALLlS,
or Wales, wallenstadt and the wallensee are on
the frontier of the Romansch district of the Chur-walcAen,
or men of the Grisons.^ The Sclaves and Germans called
the Bulgarians Wlochi or Wolochi,* and the district which
they occupied WALLACHIA ; and the Celts of Flanders,
and of the Isle of WALCHEREN, were called WALLOONS *
by their Teutonic neighbours. North-western France is
called VALLAND in the Sagas,* and in the Saxon
Chronicle WEALAND denotes the Celtic district of Armo-
rica- The Anglo-Saxons called their Celtic neighbours
the WELSH, and the country by the name of WALES.*
Cornwall was formerly written Comwales, the country
inhabited by the Welsh of the Horn. The chroniclers
uniformly speak of North-Wales and Corn-Wales. In
the charters of the Scoto-Saxon kings the Celtic Picts of
Strath Clyde are called Walenses.
^ They are called Walisenses in the Chronicles. Schott, Deui. Col. p. 206.
' Compare the Polish Wlochy an Italian, and the Slowenian Vlahy a Wal-
lachian. From the same Sanskrit root we have the name of the beloochs
or Wdsh of India. Pott, Indo-Germ. Spr, p. 48; Adelung, MUhridates^
ToL ii. p. 641 ; Leo, in Kuhn^s Zeitsckrifi^ vol. iL p. 255.
s Tho name of the Belgae, a Cymric tribe, seems to have been given them
by the Gaels, whom they displaced. Cf. the Erse, Fir-bolg^ ''intruding
men.'*
^ Laing, ffdmskringla, vol. L p. 293.
* Strictly speaking, Wales is a corruption of IVealhas^ the plural of
vfeaihy a Welshman or foreigner.
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64 The Names of Nations.
Entangled with this root wal^ we have the root gat.
The Teutonic w and the Celtic and Romance g are
convertible letters. Thus the French Gualtier and
Guillaume are the same as the English Walter and
William. So also guerre and war, garde and warde,
guise and wise, guile and wile, gaif and waif, gaude
and woad, gaufre and wafer, garenne and warren,
gault and weald, guarantee and warranty, are severally
the French and English forms of the same words.^
By a similar change the root wal is transformed to gal.
The Prince of Wales is called in French " le Prince de
Galles." Wales is the " pays de Galles," and Cornwall
is Cornuailles, a name which was also given to the
opposite peninsula of Brittany. CALAIS was anciently
written indifferently Galeys or Waleys ; and the name,
as will be shown elsewhere, most appropriately indi-
cates the existence of the remnant of a Celtic people
surrounded by a cordon of Teutonic settlers.
This convertibility of the roots gal and wal is a source
of much confusion and difficulty ; for it appears probable
ihsitgal may also be an independent Celtic root,^ entirely
unconnected with the Teutonic wal ; for while the Welsh
of Wales or Italy never called themselves by this name,
it appears to have been used as a national appellation
1 Cf. Philolog. Proceed, vol. i p. io8 ; Knapp, English Roots, p. 8 ;
Verstegan, Restitutum, pp. i66^ 363 ; Max Mtiller, Lectures^ 2nd series,
p. 265.
s No satisfactory explanation from Celtic sources has, I believe, been
offered. Possibly it may mean the "west." See Mone, Cdtisclu For-
sckungen, p. 326. Pott derives it from gtodi, the "cultivated country."
£tym. Forsch, vol. il p. 531. Zeuss thinks it means the "warriors." Die
Deutschefty p. 65. Dr. Meyer prefers the cognate signification of "clans-
men." Report^ Brit. Assoc, for 1847, P- 30^ 5 Bunsen, PAH. of Univ. Hist.
vol. 1. p. 145. CELT is of course only the Greek form oigad ox gallus.
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Gaels. 6$
by the GAELS of CVi/edonia^ and the GAULS of Galliz,
GalvfdiY, Done^tf/, Galloyf3.y, and hxgyle are all Gaelic
districts ; and GOELLO is one of the most thoroughly-
Celtic portions of Brittany. The inhabitants of Gal\\c\z,
and Portu^^/ possess more Celtic blood than those
who inhabit any other portion of the Peninsula. The
Austrian province of Galitz or Ga/idB, is now Sclavonic,
and the name, as well as that of Wallachia, is probably
to be referred to the German root wal, foreign ; though
it is far from impossible that one or both of these names
may indicate settlements of the fragments of the Gaelic
horde which in the third century before Christ pillaged
Rome and Delphi, and finally, crossing into Asia, settled
in and gave a name to that district of Ga/atia, whose
inhabitants, even in the time of St. Paul, retained so
many characteristic features of their Celtic origin.^
So interlaced are these primeval roots that it is almost
hopeless to attempt to disentangle them.^
1 This word possibly contains the root ^o^/. If so, the Caledonians
would be the Gaels of the duns or hills. The usual etymology is from
caHdooirUj the ''men of the woods." See^Diefenbach, Celtica^ ii. part i. p. 14 ;
CambrO'Briton^ voL L pp. 48, 373 ; vol. iii pp. 397, 399 ; Thierry, HisL
Gaui, vol. i. pp. xxix. xxxv ; Chalmers, Caledonia^ vol. I p. 200.
* GALATA, near Constantinople, is regarded by Diefenbach as a vestige
of the passage of the Galatian horde. Cdtica^ ii. part i. p. 7. It seems
more probable that this name is Semitic, and should be classed with KELAT
in Beloochistan, alcala in Spain, and calata in Sicily. See Chapter VI.
> On the roots gal and wal, see Zeuss, Die Deuischen und die Nach'
harstdmme^ pp. 66, 576; Diefenbach, Cdiica, ii. part ii. pp. 127, 128;
Diefenbach, Vergieieh, Worterb. vol L pp. 180, 181 ; Guest, on Gentile
Namei^ in Philolog. Proc. voL i. p. 105 ; MUller, Die Marken des VaterL
voL L pp. 194 — 203 ; Prichard, Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations^ pp.
* 104— 1 10 ; Latham, English Language^ vol. L p. cv ; Latham, Gennania^
pp. 83, 98 ; Nat. of Europe^ vol. ii pp. 192, 387 ; Conybeare and Howson,
Life of St. Pauly vol i. p. 284; Arnold, Hist, of Rome^ vol. i. p. 520 ;
Yonge, Christian Names ^ voL ii. p. 9 ; Chamock, Local Etymol. p. 291 ;
Basil Jones, in Archctologia Cambrensisy 3rd series, voL iv. pp. 127 — 132 ;
F
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66 The Names of Nations.
Another root which is very frequently found in the
names of nations is ar. This ancient word, which enters
very extensively into the vocabularies of all the Indo-
Germanic races, seems primarily to have referred to the
occupation of agriculture. The verb used to express the
operation of ploughing is in Greek op(ia>, in Latin arOf
in Gothic /^rjan, in Polish (?rac, in old High German
a/an, in Irish a:raim, and in Old English ear. Thus we
read in our version of the Bible, " The oxen . . . that
ear the ground shall eat clean provender." ^ A plough is
aporpov in Greek, ^zfatrum in Latin, ^rdr in Norse, and
araid in Welsh ; and the English harrow was originally a
rude instrument of the same kind. The Greek Apovpc^
the Latin ^^vum, and the Polish (?racz'mean a field,
or ariblt ground, yiroma was the an>matic smell of
freshly ploughed land ; while apro^ and harvest reward
the ploughman's labour. The Sanscrit /r4, the Greek
Ipa, the Gothic airthaL, and their English representative,
earth, is that which is eared or ploughed.^
Lord Lindsay, Progression by Antagonism^ p. 62 ; Rawlinson, Herodotus^
voL iii. p. 190; Verst^ran, Restitution^ pp. 46, 166, 167; Pott, Etvm,
Forsch, vol ii. p. 529 ; Indo-Germ. Spr. p. 91 ; Saturday Revitw^ April
nth, 1863 ; Amdt, Eur, Spr. p. 253 ; Schafarik, Slaw, Alt, vol. i. p. 377 ;
Bp. Thirlwall, in Philolog. Trans, for 1860-1, pp. 199—203 ; and Holzapfd,
in Hofer*s Zeitschrift, vol. iv. p. 240, who quotes a work which I have not
been able to procure— Maasmann, Deutsck und Wdsch, Miinchen, 1843.
Niebuhr, in his Lectures on Ethnology and Geography^ vol. iL p. 308, holds
the untenable opinion that the Cdtic national appellation is the rxwt of
the German ««/, and that the Germans took the name of some contiguons
Gaelic tribe as a general term for foreigner. See p. 62, supra,
1 Isaiah xxx. 24. So the two great operations of ploughing and reaping^
are called "earing and harvest,** Gen. xlv. 6 ; Ex. xxxiv. 21.
' Scores of related words might be collected from the Romance, Celtic,
Sclavonic, and Gothic languages. Tilled land being the chief kind of pro-
perty, we have the Gothic arbi, an inhmtance. Since ploughing was the
chief eamisX. occupation practised at an early stage of dvilixation, the root
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Aryans, 6j
The Sanskrit word arya means an agriculturist, a pos-
sessor of landy^or a householder generally ; hence it came
to denote any one belonging to the dominant race^ —
the aristocracy of landowners — ^as distinguished from
the subject tribes ; and at length it began to be used as
an ethnic designation, corresponding to some extent with
the word bfutfc^, as used by the Germans.*
The name of this conquering ARYAN race, which has
gone forth to till the earth and to subdue it, is probably
to be found in the names of IRAN,* HERAT, ARAL,
ARMENIA, and, perhaps, of ib-er-ia, Ireland, and
comes to take the general signification of any kind of work. Hence the
Greek ifjop, the Latin ars, the German arbeit, the English errand ; all of
which deserve Aimings and eame&t money. It would not be difficult to trace
the connexion of the Greek 4p-tTfths, rpt-ifp-iis and ^-fip-irriSf the Latin
remns, the English oar, the Sanskrit di/itra, a ship, as well as of urbs and
crbis. On the meaning and ramifications of the root ar, see Diefenbach,
VergUich, Wbrterb, vol. L pp. 65, 70; Diefenbach, Celtica, i. pp. Ii— 13;
Grimm, G€sch. der Deut, Spr, vol. i. pp. 54,, 55, 68 ; Kuhn, Zur altesU
Gtsch, pp. 12, 13 ; Pictet, Origines Indo-Europ. part il pp. 28 — ^31, 67,
7Sf 78, 88, 123, 183—185 ; Curtius, Gfundxiige der Griech, Etym, vol. i.
pp. 306—308 ; Prichard, Rep, Brit Assoc, for 1847, p. 242 ; Lassen, Ind,
Alt. vol L pp. 5 — 8; Pott, U^er alt-persische Eigennamen in the Zeitschrift
dir Morgenl, Gesdlschaft, vol. xiii. p. 374 ; Church of England Quarterly^
*M>- 73» P- 139 ; Mommsen, Inhabitants of Italy ^ pp. 16, 17 ; Renan, Lang,
Shnit. p. 14 ; Pott, Indo-Germ, Sprach. p. 46 ; Max Miiller, Lectures on
Science of Language, pp. 237 — ^257 ; Amdt, Eur. Spr. p. 158 ; Phil. Tram,
for 1857, p. 55 ; Edinburgh Review, voL xdv. pp. 315, 316 ; Zeitschrift
d* Morgeni, Gesdlschaft, vol. iil p. 284.
^ The profession of arm& being engrossed by the ruling race has caused
the root, if indeed it be the same, to enter into a number of military terms
— army, armour, arms, harness, hero, *'A^r. Curtius and Pictet, however,
think these words are of independent origin.
* Leo, in Kuhn's Zeitschrift, vol. ii. p. 257.
* In the cuneiform inscriptions the Medes and Persians claim proudly
to be Aryans, and Darius styles hunself an Aiya of the Aryans, The
Oasetes in the Caucasus call themselves iron. The name German may
perhaps be referred to this root. Compare the names Ar-iovistus, Ar-minius,
Her-mann.
F 2
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68 The Names of Nations.
ERIN. In languages which belong to the Teutonic
branch of the Aryan stock, we find the root in the form
ware^ inhabitants. Burgh^fs are those who inhabit
towns, and a skipp^ is one who lives in a ship, as may
be seen by tracing the words back to the Anglo-Saxon
burhvarey citizens, and the old Norse skipveri, a sailor.*
The word ware enters into the names of a great number
of German tribes. It is Latinized into the forms uari,
oari, and dart; and the w is sometimes changed into a^,
in accordance with a phonetic law which has been already
illustrated. Among the peoples of Central Europe are
found the Ing-uari-i, the Rip-uari-i, the Chsis-uari-i, the
CYizXt'tmriA, the Att-uariA, the Angri-z/an-i, and the
Ansi-^^n-i. The name of the Boio-^zfi-i is preserved in
the modem name of BA-VARI-A, the land of the Boii.
The BULG-ARI-ANS Were the men from the Bolg, or
Volga, on the banks of which river there is another, or
Great Bulgaria.^ King Alfred speaks of the Moravians
under the name ^A^xvaro, the dwellers on the river
Marus or Morava.* Hun-^a:rr-a, or HUNGARY, is the
land formerly peopled by the Huns; and the name
1 On the root ware, see IZeoss, Die Deutschen, p. 367 ; Herkunft der
Baiem^ pp. 5—^11 ; Forstemanxi, Ortsnamm^Y?' ^^ ^97 \ Grimn), Gesck,
der Deut. Spr. p. 781 ; Mone, Celt. Forsch, p. 245 ; Muller, Markem des
Vaterlandes^ vol. L p. 108 ; Philological Proceedings^ vol. L p. 10 ; Scha-
farik. Slaw, Alt, vol. i. p. 367. Compare the Sanskrit vtra^ the Latin vir^
the Celtic jit/r and ^r, the Gothic vairs^ and the Spanish varon^ all which
denote a man. From the low Latin, baro^ a male, comes banm^ and
perhaps the Scotch bairn, Pictet, Or, Indo-Euro. part ii. p. 196 ; Diez,
Cram, Rom. Spr. vol. L p. 26 ; GlUck, Kelt. Namen^ p. loa
" Grimm, Gesch, der Deut. Spr. p. 781 ; Miiller, Marken^ vol. i. p. 19a.
The Prussian land«v^r is the levy en masse of the whole population, and
not the landguard^ as is commonly suppoted.
• Adelung, Mithridates, vol. iL p. 641; Prichard, Researches^ voL iv.
p. 32.
* Zeuss, Die Deutschen^ p. 639.
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The Suffixes " ware " and " setV 69'
survives, though the Huns have been long dispossessed
by Magyars and Sclavonians. wor-CESTER is a cor-
ruption of Hwic-«/a:fw-ceaster, the castle of the inhabi-
tants pf the country of the Huiccii. The men of Kent
were the Q^XiXrware; and though this term is obsolete,
it survives in the name of their chief town, ZzxiXrwara-
byrig, or CANT-^r-BURY, *' the burgh of the men of the
headland," while the ordinary signature of the primate,
Q^xArtiar} exhibits the Saxon root ware in a prominent
form. CAR-ISBROOK, in the Isle of Wight, is a name
closely analogous to Canterbury. Asser writes the word
Gwiti-^ar/^-burg, " the burgh of the men of Wight" It
will easily be seen how the omission of the first part of
the name, and the corruption of the last part, have
reduced it to its present form.
Another of these widely diffused roots is scetan, j^/tlers,
or inhabitants, and scete or setna^ the seat or place in-
habited.^
ALra/ia, ALSACE, or ELSASS, is the " other seat," the
abode of the German settlors west of the Rhine, a dis-
trict where, as we have seen, the names of places are still
purely German. HOLSTEIN is a corruption of the dative
case of Holt-sati, the "forest abode."* From the same
root we get Somerset and 'Dorset. It would appear that
the / in Wil-/-shire is also due to this root, since the
men of Wiltshire are called in the Saxon chronicle Wil-
saetan, just as the men of Somerset and Dorset are called
1 That is, Episcopus Cantuaiensis. See Latham, Eng. Lan, vol. i.
p. 143 ; Miiller, Marken, vol L p. 192 ; Wright, Wanderings^ p. 72 ;
Guest, in Philolog. Proceed, vol. i. p. 10.
^ Cf. the verbs to sit^ sUseny sedere. See Leo, RecHtudines^ p. 48. On
xflf, see Guest on Gentile Names, in PkH. Proc. voL i. pp. 105, 107.
' Forstemann, in Kuhn's Zeitschrifty vol. i. p. 10 ; Ortsnameny p. 105;
Miiller, Marken des VaUrL voL L p. 121.
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70 TJu Names of Nations.
Sumorsaetan and Dornsaetan.^ We have also Pecsaetan,
men of the Peak (Derbyshire) ; Scrobsaetan, the men of
Shropshire or Scrubland ; Ciltemsaetan, the men of the
Chiltems ; and Wocensaetan, the people of the Wrekin
or hill-country of Exmoor.*
Conquering tribes, numerically insignificant, when com-
pared with the other elements of the population, have
not unfrequently bestowed their names upon extensive
regions. ENGLAND, for instance, takes its name from
the Angles, who only colonized a small portion of the
country. In the case of SCOTLAND, we may believe that
the Angles, the Norwegians, and the Cymric Celts
severally constituted a larger element in the population
than the Scots, yet this conquering Irish sept, which ap-
pears to have actually colonized only a portion of Argyle,
has succeeded in bestowing its name upon the whole
country. FRANCE takes its name from the Franks, a
small German tribe' which effected a very imperfect
colonization of a portion of central France : the whole of
Picardy, Normandy, Brittany, Burgundy, Languedoc,
Guienne, and Gascony being excluded from their in-
I Kemble, Saxons in England^ vol. i. p. 78; Seucon Chron, A.D. 800
and 878.
' Kemble, Saxons^ vol. i. p. 83.
' The mixed multitude of Greeks, Italians, Maltese, English, Germans,
French, and other western Europeans who are found in the streets of Cairo
and other eastern cities, all go by the name of Franks to this day : parturiunt
mures, et nascitur mons. The cause of the supremacy of the Frank name
in the Levant is probably due to the prominent position taken at the time
of the crusades by Godfrey of Boulogne, and the Franks of Northern
France. See Purchas, His Pilgrimes^ vol. l p. 305; Trench, Study of
Wordsy p. 72. Grimm, Gesch, der Deut Spr, p. 789, attributes this diflFu-
sion of the Frank name to the repute of the Carlovingian empire. Latham
ascribes it to the exploits of Robert Guiscard and his Normans I Nat, of
Europe^ voL ii. p. 23,
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Names of Conquering Tribes, yi
fluence. Even so late as the time of Philippe Auguste,
the term FRANCE did not comprehend either Aquitaine
or Languedoc^ Several of the old French provinces —
BURGUNDY, NORMANDY, FRANCHE COMTfi, and the ISLE
OF FRANCE — ^preserve the names of the German tribes
which conquered them. The eastern division of the
Frank nation has left its name in the Bavarian province
of FRANKEN, or Franconia, as we call it. We find the
name of the Suevi preserved in SUABIA ; of the Rugii in
the Isle of RUGEN ;* of the Chatti in HESSE ; of the
Saxons in saxony ; of the Lombards in lombardy ; of
the Huns in HUNGARY; of the Atrebates in ARTOIS ; of
the Pictones in POITOU ; of the Cymry in CUMBERLAND,
CAMBRIA, and the CUMBRAY Islands at the mouth of the
Clyde ;3 of the Goths or Jutes in CATALONIA, JUTLAND,
the Isle of GOTHLAND, and the Isle of wight ;* and
that of the Vandals possibly in ANDAL-USIA.*
The Celtic Boii, who left their ancient "home" in
BOHEMIA^ (Boi-hem-ia, or Boi-heim) to Sclavonic occu-
1 Palgrave, Normandy and England^ voL iL p. 147. The "languages*'
or ''nations'* into which the Hospitallers were divided (a.d. 1322) were: —
Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, Aragon, England, Germany, and
Castile.
« Knobel, Volkertafel, p. 38.
» Knobel, Volkertafd^ p. 29 ; Kennedy, in Philoiog. Trans, for 1855,
p. 164. To this list we may perhaps add the names of cambrai, coimbra,
CAMBRILLA, and QUIMPER. AjTchdeacon Williams refers montgomeri in
France, and the mountain refuge of Monte Comero (anciently Cumerium
Promontorium) in Italy, to the same people. Edinburgh Trans, vol. xiiL
P- 526.
* In the laws of Edward the Confessor the men of the Isle of Wight are
called Guti, i.e. Jutes or Goths. We have also the intermediate forms
Geat, Gwit, Wiht, and Wight G and ^are convertible. See p. 64. On
the identity of the names Geat and Goth, see Grinmi, Gesch, der DetU, Spr,
p. 439-
• See p. 76, infray for another etymology.
' The Boii broke into Italy, and perhaps gave their name to Bononia,
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J2 The Names of Nations.
pants, have also given their name to Bai-txn^ or Bava-
ria.^ So the Sclavonic and Hellenic districts under
Moslem rule are called turkey, from the Turkomans or
Turks, who constitute only a small governing class ;* and
it is singular that the Philistines, the " strangers " from
Crete, who merely occupied a narrow strip of the sea-
coast, should, through their contact with the western
world, have given their name to the whole of the land of
PALESTINE, in which they never succeeded in gaining
any lasting supremacy.*
The names of ancient tribes are also very frequently
preserved in the names of modern cities. The process
by which this has taken place is exemplified in the case
of the Taurini, whose chief city, called by the Romans
Augusta Taurinorum, is now Torino, or TURIN ; while
the capital of the Parisii, Lutetia Parisiorum, is now
PARIS ; and that of the Treviri, Augusta Trevirorum, has
become Trier or Treves.* We have the name of the
now BOLOGNA, and to bovanium, another town in Italy. It has been
thought that bordeaux and bourbon also bear the name of the BoiL
See Diefenbach, Cdtka, ii. part i. pp. 261, 316 ; Grimm, Gesch. der Dmt,
Spr, vol. L pp. 166, 502 ; Prichard, Researches, vol. iii. p. 89 ; Prichard,
Eeuiem Origin of Celtic Nations , pp. 133 — 136; Tschudi, Hauptschliissd^
p. 179; Knobel, Vblkertafei, pp. 47, 48; Mommsen, Hist, of Romty voL i
p. 338 ; Latham, Germania^ p. 92 ; Latham, Nationalities of Europe,
vol ii. p. 326 ; Zeuss, Die Deutschen, p. 641 ; Liddell, Hist, Rome, vol. i.
p. 165 ; Schafarik, Slaw, Alt. vol. i. p. 382.
1 See p. 68, supra.
' The word Turk had a still wider signification in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, when it was used to denote all Mahomedans, as the
word Saracen was in the twelfth century. Trench, Glossary, p. 222.
Compare the collect for Good Friday—'* All Jews, Turks, infidels, and
heretics."
* Renan, Langues S^mitiques, p. 57; Stanley, Sinai and Palestine,
pp. 256, 257; Jewish Church, p. 362.
^ Of course, in cases of this kind it is impossible to say that the name of
the city is not more ancient than the name of the tribe. The names Parisi
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Ethnic Names conserved in the Names of Cities, 73
Damnonii in DEVON, and a portion of the name of the
Z>«rotriges is preserved in 2?^rchester, of the Huiccii in
fForcester, of the Iceni in Iken and /cvfeborough, of the
Selgovae in the SoNf^y, of the Bibroci in Brsy hundred,
near Windsor, of the Regni in Hegnewood or i?i«^-
wood in Hants, and of the Cassii of Caesar in the
hundred of Cashio, Hertfordshire, and in Cas/iwbury
Park, which probably occupies the site of the chief town
of the tribe. Many of these names have a certain ethno-
logical value, inasmuch as they enable us to localize
ancient tribes; and therefore a list of such probable
identifications is subjoined in the appendix.^
The world-famous name of imperial Rome has been
retained by various insignificant fragments of the Roman
empire. The Wallachians, the descendants of the Roman
colonists on the Danube, proudly call themselves ROMANI,
and their country ROMANIA. The language of modern
Greece is called the ROMAIC ; that of Southern France is
the ROMANCE ; and that of the Rhaetian Alps the RO-
MANSCH. The ROMAGNA of Italy preserves the memory
of the bastard empire which had its seat at Ravenna ; and
the name of the Asiatic pashalics of ROUM and ERZEROUM
are witnesses to the fact that in the mountain fastnesses
of Armenia the creed and the traditions of the Eastern
Empire of Rome continued to exist long after the sur-
rounding provinces had fallen under the dominion of the
Turks ; while for the European province of roumelia
was reserved the privilege of being the last morsel to be
swallowed by the Moslem Cyclops.
or Tanrini, for instance, may not be true ethnic names, but may have been
derived from the name of their capital, the original name of which can only
be dimly discerned through its Latin garb. See Ansted and Latham,
Chatmd Islands^ p. 311.
1 Appendix A,
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74 The Names of Nations.
Conversely the name of a city has often become at-
tached to the surrounding region. The ROMAN EMPIRE
must ever remain the chief instance of such an extension
of meaning. This has also been the case with the king-
dom of CABOOL, with the State of NEW YORK, with
BERNE, zOrich, and others of the Swiss cantons, with
several German States, such as HANOVER, BADEN,
BRUNSWICK, and MECKLENBURG, and with a large num-
ber of the English counties, as YORKSHIRE, LANCASHIRE,
and SALOP.
A few countries have taken their names from some
ruler of renown. LODOMIRIA, which is the English form
of the Sclavonic Vlodomierz, is so called from St. Vladi-
mar, the first Christian Tzar.^ The two Lothairs, the
son and the grandson of Louis le D6bonnaire, received,
as their share of the Carlovingian inheritance, a kingdom
which comprised Switzerland, Alsace, Franche Comt6,
Luxembourg, Hainault, Juliers, Li^ge, Cologne, Treves,
the Netherlands, Oldenburg, and Friezland. This terri-
tory went by the name of the Regnum Lotharii, Lotha-
ringia, or Lothier-regne ; but by the incapacity or
misfortune of its rulers the outlying provinces were
gradually lost, so that in the course of centuries the
ample "realm of Lothair" has dwindled down into
the contracted limits of the modern province of
LORRAINE.^
The most recent instance of a state called from the
name of its founder is BOLIVIA ; a name which remains
as a perpetual reproach to the Bolivians, proclaiming the
discords and jealousies which drove Bolivar, the liberator
1 Actvss the Carpathians^ p. 206.
■ Palgrave, Normandy and England^ vol. L p. .363 ; Yonge, Christian
NamcSf voL iL p. 391.
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Ethnic Names derived from Geographical Position. 75
and dictator, to die in obscure exile on the banks of the
Mississippi Stet notninis umbra.
The name by which we know CHINA belongs, in all
probability, to the same category. It was during the
reign of the dynasty of Thsin, in the third century before
Christ, that the first knowledge of the Celestial Empire
was conveyed to the West That the form of the name
should be China, rather than Tsin or SINA,^ seems to
prove that our first acquaintance with the Chinese em-
pire must have been derived from the nation in whose
hands was the commerce with the far East — the Malays
— ^who pronounce Tlisina as C7/ina.*
The names of America, Tasmania, Georgia, Carolina,
and others of this class have already been discussed.^
Another class of names of countries is derived from
their geographical position. Such are ECUADOR, the re-
public under the Equator, and piedmont, the land at
the foot of the great mountain chain of Europe. Names
of this class very frequently enable us to discover the re-
lative position of the nation by which the name has been
bestowed. Thus SUTHERLAND, which occupies almost the
extreme northern extremity of our island, must evidently
have obtained its name from a people inhabiting regions
still further to the North — the Norwegian settlers in
Orkney. We may reasonably attribute to the Genoese
and Venetians the name of the levant,* for to the
Italians alone would the eastern shores of the Mediter-
ranean be the '* land of the sunrise." In like manner the
1 The ancient fonn SINA indicates transmission through the Arabs.
Stiinnhokn, IVikingsuge, p. 2S4.
■ Hue, China, voL L p. 347 ; Cooley, History of Maritime and Inlatid
Discovery, voL L p. 120; Fleming, Travels, p. 336.
> See Chapter II.
^ Compare the use of the word Orient.
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76 The Nanus of Nations.
Greeks of Constantinople, who watched the sun rise over
the mountains of Asia Minor, called the land ANATOLIA
(the rising), a name which is preserved in that of the
Turkish province of NATOLIA. The name of JEPAN or
Jehpun is evidently of Chinese, and not of native origin,
for it means the "source of day."^ The AMALEKITES,*
as well perhaps as the SARACENS,' are the " Orientals ; "
BACTRI A comes from a Persian word bakhtavy the east ; *
the Portuguese province of the ALGARBE is "the west;"
and some scholars are of opinion that the name of
ANDALUSIA is also from an Arabic source, and that it
signifies Hesperia, or the "region of the evening."*
The name of the DEKKAN is a Sanskrit word, which
means the " South." The etymology of this word gives
us a curious glimpse into the daily life of the earliest
Aryan races. The Sanskrit dakshina (cf. the Latin
dextera) means the right hand, and to those who daily
worshipped the -rising sun, the south would, of course,
be the dakkhina^ or dekkarty "that which is to the
right"«
Hesychius tells us that EUROPE means xeipa t§9
Suo-eo)?, the land of the setting sun, and the etymology
1 Kenrick, Pkanicia^ p. 8$ ; Alcock, Capital of the Tycoon, voL ii.
p. 88.
■ Renan, Lang. Simit, p. 109.
• Welsford, English Language, p. 27.
* Ibid.
* See Gibbon, note, chap. 51, vol. vi. p. 429. It is more probable, how-
ever, that Andalusia is Vandalusia, the country of the Vandals. See p. 71,
supra; Keferstein, Kelt. Alt. voL ILp. 313; Gayangos, Moham. Dynasties,
voL L pp. 23, 322,
• Pictet, Orig. Indo-Eur. vol. il p. 495 ; Prichard, Researches, voL iv.
p. 93 ; Brown, Camatic Chronology, p. 83. Lassen, however, Jnd. Alt.
vol L p. 46, derives the name from the Sanskrit d^dn, peasants. £S sham,
the local name of Syria, means " the left."
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Europe^-Asia. jj
h supported by Kenrick^ and Rawlinson,^ who think
that we have in this case a Semitic root applied by the
Phoenicians to the countries which lay to the west of
them. Dean Trench, on the other hand, supports the
common explanation that the term eiJp-aJTn; is descriptive
of the "broad face" or profile, which the coast, near
Mount Athos, would present to the Asiatic Greek.^
The origin of the name of ASIA is also in dispute.
Pott* refers it to the Sanskrit ushas? and thinks that it
means the " land of the dawn," and is, therefore, to be
classed with such names as Levant, Anatolia, and Japan.
On the other hand, much may be said in favour of the
view that the word Asia was originally only the designa-
tion of the marshy plain of the Cayster* — the Asian
plain on which EPHESUS (l^€o--o9) was built ; and the
root as or es may, perhaps, be referred to that widely-
diffused word for water which enters into the names of
so many rivers and marshes throughout the Indo-Euro-
pean region.^ As the dominion and the importance of
the city of Ephesus increased, the name of this Asian
district would naturally be extended to the surrounding
1 Phftnicia^ p. 85.
' Herodotusy voL iii. p. 40.
* English^ Past and Present^ p. 226. Grimm makes the application of
the root refer rather to the broad fiice of the earth, than to the broad outline
of the coast Deut. Myth, p. 631. It is curious that the same etymological
connexion which appears to exist between the c^pcMt, Europe, and the
mythological Europa, is found between the Norse words rinta^ the earth,
Rindr, the spouse of Odin, and rind^ cattle. Deui. Myth, p. 230. Cf.
Kari Miiller, Mythologies p. 133.
^ Etymol, Fofsch, voL ii. p. I0a
* Cf. the Greek lfl»r.
' 'Air£y iw \9ttiuyt, KaBffrplov i^i fi4€$p€L Homer, Uiad, b. ii. 1. 461.
See Forbiger, Att, Geogr, voL ii p. 38,
7 See Chapter IX.
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78 The Names of Nations.
region, and the Romans afterwards transferred to the
whole country east of the iEgean the name which they
found attaching to that Asiatic province with which they
first became acquainted.*
The earliest name for the African continent was LIBYA.
The root is, perhaps, the Greek word Idfiay moisture — an
etymology which, inappropriate as it may seem, would
indicate the fact that Africa was first known to the
Greeks as the region from which blew the Libyan or
"rain-bringing" south-west wind.*
The meaning of the word AFRICA, the Roman name
of Libya, is very doubtful. The name seems to have
originated, in the neighbourhood of Carthage, and is pro-
bably Punic, at all events Semitic. It has been con-
jectured, with some show of probability, that it is derived
from the ethnic designation of some tribe in the neigh-
bourhood of Carthage, and whose name signified "The
Wanderers,"* in the same way that the NUMIDIANS were
the vofidSe^ — Nomads, or wandering shepherd tribes, an-
cestors of the Berbers and Kabyles — and as the Suevi
or Swabians,* and probably also the Vandals and the
1 The name of Asia Minor seems to have been invented by Oiosins in
the fifth century, when a wider geographical knowledge required the name
of Asia for all the regions to the east of the Mediterranean. See Trench,
Study of Words, p. 96.
* Rawlinson, Herodotus^ voL iii. p. 40.
s See Movers, Die Phonitier^ pt. ii. vol. ii. p. 402; Rawlinson, Herodotus^
vol. iii. p. 40 ; and Mommsen, Hist. Rome, Ahrens, in Kuhn's ZeUsehrifi,
vol. iii. p. 171, thinks Africa is the "south land." Cf. Forstemann, Ib^
vol. L p. 15.
* From sehweben^ to move. See Zeuss, Die Deutscken^ p. 57 ; Miiller,
Markeftf vol. i. pp. 164 — 168. Grimm thinks the root is a Sclavonic word
meaning free. Gesck, der DeuL Spr, p. 322. Leo, VorUmngen^ voL L
p. 96, prefers a Sanskrit root meaning '* offerers," and he believes that the
practice of human sacrifice lingered long in the tribe. On human sacrifice
among the Germans, see Milman, Hist Latin Christianity^ vol. i. p. 244 ;
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Africa. 79
Wends,^ were the roving border tribes of ancient Ger-
many.*
A few names of races are descriptive of personal
appearance, or physical characteristics ; and they there-
fore possess a peculiar value in the eyes of ethnographers.
The EDOMITES were the " red" men,' the MOORS* and
the PHOENICIANS* probably the "dark" men, and of still
darker hue are the NEGROES of NEGROLAND, and the
ETHIOPIANS, or "burnt-faced men,"® quos India torret
Mone, Gesch. Heidenihums^ voL ii. pp. 20, 136; Turner, Angio-Saxons,
▼oL L p. 222.
^ The root of these two names appears in the German word wandeln^ and
its English equivalents, to wander or ^loend. To this root may also be
attributed the name of Flanders ; as well, perhaps, as those of vindelicia,
VINDOBONUM, VENETIA, and Others. See Zeuss, Du Deuischen und die
Niachbarsidmmey p. 57 ; Grimm, Gesch, der Deut, Spr, pp. 322, 475, 476 ;
lAtham, Germania^ Epil^. p. xc. ; Amdt, Eur, Spr, p. 89.
s The name of the scots has been deduced from an Erse word, scuite^
meaning "wanderers,*' which is preserved in the English word scout,
Meyer, Brii. Assoc, Reports for 1847, P- S^S \ Bunsen, PhU, of Univ. Hist,
▼oL i p. 151 ; Wilson, Prehist, Annals o/Scotland^ p. 477; Betham, Gael,
pp. xi. xii. The name of the Scythians may possibly be allied to that of
the Scots. The parthians are the "wanderers'* or strangers. Pott,
Jnda-Germ, Spr, p. 52; Bergmann, Les Gites, pp. 24, 28. On Ethnic
names of this dass, see Bergmann, Peuples Primitifs de la Race de Jafite,
pp. 42, 45, 52, S3, quoted by Renan, Lang, Shtit, p. 39.
s Knobel, Volkertafd, pp. 12, 135 ; Renan, Lang, Simil, p. 39.
* Movers, Phonizier, part ii. vol. ii p. 372.
* From ^i>i|, reddi^-brown. See Knobel, Vblkertafely pp. 12, 317 ;
Kenrick, Phoenicia, p. 68 ; Forbiger, Alt, Geogr, voL ii. p. 659 ; Momm-
sen, Nist, Rome, voL iL p. I Movers inclines to the opinion that Phoenicia
is the " land of palms." Die Phcnizier, pt il vol. i. pp. 2—9. Cf. Stanley,
Sinai and Pal, p. 267.
* Al0fo^, from cd9«, to bum. Cf. H/Ao^', the swarthy-faced. Curtius,
Grundziige Gr. Etym, vol. i. p. 215; Donaldson, New Cratylus, p. 138;
Varronianus, p. 30; J. K. [enrick], in Phil, Mus, vol. L p. 353. So the
native name of Egypt, Chdmi (Ham), means black. Kenrick, Egypt 0/
Herodotus, p. 22 ; Knobel, Vblkertafd, pp. 13, 239, 240 ; Renan, Lang,
Shnit, p. 42 ; Wilkinson, Anc, Egypt, vol. ii p. 47 ; Bunsen, Report on
Ethnology in Brit. Assoc, Reports for 1847, p. 254. The name Egypt
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8q The Names of Nations,
— ^and we may compare the name of the Du-gall and
Fin-gall, the "black" and "white" strangers from
Scandinavia, who plundered the coasts of Scotland,
with that of the " Pale faces," who have encroached on
the hunting-grounds of the "Red men" of North
America, and of the " Blacks " of the Australian conti-
nent. The Gipsies term themselves the ZINCALI or
"black men." 1
Professor Leo, with a great deal of learning, traces
the name of the GOTHS or GET^E to the Sanskrit word
gatay which denoted a special mode of dressing the hair
in the form of a half moon, which was practised by the
devotees of Siva.* The same writer thinks that the
BOII are the "trim" or "neat" men.*
The name of the Britons has been conjectured, rightly
or wrongly, to be from the Celtic britht paint ;* and till
rather recent times Claudian was supposed to be correct
in his etymology of the name of the painted Picts — nee
denotes the country which the Nile overflows. The root ai% which means
*' water," appears in the name of the iEgean Sea. Kenrick, Ancuni Egypt,
voL ii. p. Ii6 ; Curtius, Die lonier vor dcr lonischer Wanderung, p. 18.
Mizraim, the Biblical name, means "the two" banks, or more probably
* * the two " districts of Upper and Lower Egypt. Knobel, Volkertafdy p. 273 ;
Wilkinson, Arte. Egypt, 2d series, voL i. p. 261 ; Forbiger, Alt. Gtogr.
voL ii. p. 767. So INDIA and sinde are each the "land of the river."
Pictet, Or. Indo-Euro, voL i. pp. 119, 144.
1 Pott, Zigeuner, vol. I p. 27. .
« Leo, Vorlesungen, voL L pp. 83 — 85 and 258. Cf. Buyers, Northern
India, p. 449 ; Bergmann, Les Cites, pp. 43, 47. So the Hastings or
Astingi, the noblest race of the Goths, are the "men with well-ordered
hair." Leo, Voriesungen, vol. i p. 86.
* From the Gaelic word boigh, pronounced boi, Leo, Voriesungen, voL i.
p. 247. Thierry makes them " the terrible." Hist, d. GatUois^ vol. i«
p. liv. Cf. Keferstein, Kelt, Alt, voL ii p. 293.
4 No nation would have called themselves by such a name. The pecu-
liarity might have struck a foreigner, but not a native. See p. 56, note.
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Ethnographic Names, 8 r
falso nomine Picti. It is, however, far more probable
that the PICTS, as well as the PICTONES of Gaul, are the
** fighters," the name being traceable to the Gaelic /^Wa,
or the Welsh peithy a ** fighting man." * It has been
thought that the SCYTHIANS * are either the '^shooters,"
or the "shield men ;" and that the men of the Balearic
Isles are the "slingers."* The TURKS are the "men
with helmets,"* and the TATARS probably derive their
name from a Turanian root, meaning primarily to stretch,
and hence " to draw the bow," and " to pitch tents." ^ The
name of the COSSACKS is also Turanian, and means
" mounted warriors." «
The hatred and trembling contempt felt by the
Hindoos for those fierce, lowborn freebooters who
carved so many kingdoms out of the falling Mogul
empire, is expressed by the name MAHRATTA, which
signifies "pariahs" or "outcasts." There are two similar
1 Compare the Latin word/ajgTw. Pictet, Orig, Indo-Eur, vol. ii. p. 208 j
Meyer, in Brit, Assoc. Reports iox 1847, p. 305 ; Wilson, Prehistoric Annals
of Scotland^ p. 470. See, however. Pott, Etym, Forsch, vol. il p. 531 ;
Gladstone, Horner^ p. 347.
« More probably, however, the name Sjc^s is a corraption of tschud,
baxbarian (see p. 60) ; a name which the Greek colonists on the Euxine
hiaid applied by their Sclavonic neighbours to the barbarous tribes further
to the north. See Schafarik, Slaw. Alterth. vol. i. pp. 285, 286 ; Amdt,
Eur. Spr. pp. 138, 323.
* Movers, Die PhSnifuer^ pt ii. vol. ii. p. 584 ; Beigmann, Les Ghes^
pp. 31, 32; Diefenbach, Orig. Eur. p. 239; Boudard, Sur POrigine des
Premiers Habitants des lies BaUares^ in the Revtu ArchSologique, xii
pp. 248—250.
* Gabelentz, in the Zeitschrift d. Morgml. voL il p. 72.
^ See an adfmirable article on Comparative Philology in the Edinburgh
Revuw, vol. xdv. p. 308. Amdt, Eur. Spr. pp. 317, 326, 327, derives the
name of the Tatars from the Chinese Ta-ta^ a barbarian. This would pro-
bably be onomatopceian, like mlich^ and varvara. See pp. 61, 62, supra,
* T^hfliw^ Nationalities of Europey vol. L p. 376.
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82 The Names of Nations.
ethnic names in India. The cannadi are "rubbish,"
and the tulava are "vile."^
With regard to the SAXONS, the old etymology of
Verstegan,* broached two hundred years ago, has
recently been revived and supported by competent
scholars. It would seem that the name did not refer
to any particular tribe, but was the designation of a
military confederation composed of adventurers from
various low-German peoples, who were all distinguished
by their use of the seax^ a short knife-like sword.* Dr.
Latham, indeed, is of opinion^ that the names Angle
and Saxon related to the same people — ^the names,
perhaps, not being co-extensive ; all Angles were
probably Saxons, though all Saxons were not Angles.
Or Angle may have been the native name, and Saxon
that bestowed by Fi:?tnks or Celts.
It has been supposed that the FRANKS werfe dis-
tinguished by the use of the frame, francay or framea,
a kind of javelin ; and the Langobards or LOMBARDS,
by a long partxsaxi or haXberd? These etymologies are
1 Brown, Carnatic Chronology^ p. 84.
' Restitution of Decayed Intdligence, p. 24.
s Leo, Vorleiungen, vol. i. pp. 236 and 288. The seax was originally a
stone knife, or celt, the name being derived from saihs, a stone. Cf. the
Latin saxum,
* Latham, Eth, Brit, Is. pp. 191—195 ; Eng. Lang, vol. L pp. 162—165.
Cf. Amdt, Eur, Spr, p. 25a Grimm, Gtsch, der Deui, Spr, pp. 228, 609,
Donaldson, English Ethnography ^ p. 44, and Turner, Anglo-Saxons, voL L
p. 100, connect the Saxons with the Asiatic Sacse. Pictet rejects this.
Orig, IndO'Europ, voL L p. 87 ; Cf. Bergmann, Les Cites^ p. 22.
^ Similarly the name of the angles has been derived from angol, a hook,
that of the Germans from the javelin called a^r, and those of the heruli
and the cherusci from the Gothic heru^ a sword. Kemble, Saxons, voL L
p. 41 ; Grimm, Gesch, der Deut, Spr, pp. 8i» 512 ; Leo, Vorlesungen, voL L
p. 255 ; Wackemagel, in Haupt's T^Uschrift, vol. vi. p. 16. Cf. Miiller,
Marken, pp. 176—180; Latham, Eng. Lang, voL i. p. 216; Bosworth,
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' Mountaineers. 83
plausible, but by no means indisputable. They may,
however, be supported by the analogous fact in the
history of names that the Red men of North America
called the early European settlers by words signifying
*' sword men '* and " coat men." ^
The name of DAUPHINY is unique. Its origin is to be
traced to the Dolphin, which was the heraldic bearing of
the Counts of Albon, the feudal lords of the district
The name of this cetacean, if traced to its source,
proves, curiously enough, to be derived from a local
name. The chief shrine of Apollo was at Delphi, and
the animal, heKi^k, was sacred to the Delphian God.^
The natural features of the country have supplied
many ethnic names. From the Greek Tpaj(ys we obtain
the name of THRACE,* the rugged country, as well as of
TRACHONITIS,* a sort of basaltic island in the Syrian
desert — a scene of grand rocky desolation, where vast
fissures, and lines of craggy battlement call to mind the
lunar landscape, as viewed through a powerful telescope,
rather than any scene on the surface of the earth.* PETRA
takes its name from the long sandstone parapets which
gird theWady Mousa ; ALBION is the "hilly land" of
Scotland,* and ALBANIA is so called from the snowy
Origin^ pp. 122 ; and Mone, Gesch, Heidmtk, vol. ii. p. 124 ; who quotes
Leo, Othins Verehrungy a work which I have not been able to procure.
» Roger Williams, Key intff the Languages of N, America^ p. 39.
• C. O. Midler, Dorians, vol. i. p. 325 ; Manage, Origines, pp. 250,
698 ; Yonge, Christian Names, voL i. p. 157 ; see, however, Curtius, Grund*
Miige, vol. il p. 65 ; Kuhn, Zeitschrift, vol. ii. p. 129.
« Gladstone, Homer, voL i. pp. 158, 347, 382 ; Grimm thinks the root is
epatf^s rather than rpax^s. Gesch. der Deut, Spr, p. 195.
« Trachonitis is the Greek translation of Argob, the Hebrew name.
• See Stanley, JtTvish Church, p. 213 ; Graham, in Cambridge Essays {oi
1858, p. 145.
• Pictet, Orig, Indo-Euro, vol. L p. 70. C£ Meyer, in Reports of Brit,
Assoc, for 1847, p. 303.
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84 The Names of Nations,
range, whose peaks are seen, from the Ionian islands,
glistening brilliantly in the evening sun. Cambria and
Cumberland are the lands of the Cymry — ^the moun-
taineers,^ and the CROATS or Chorwats,* as well as the
KABYLES,'^ the MALAYS,* the CHAUCI,* the ARCADIANS,*
the GREEKS, the DORIANS,^ the THURINGIANS, and the
TYROLESE are the " Highlanders," while ATTICA is the
" Promontory." «
The CANAANITES are the " lowlanders," • as dis-
tinguished from the AVITES and the AMORITES, or
" dwellers on the hills," and from the HITTITES and the
HiviTES, who were respectively the "men of the
valleys," and the "men of the towns." ^^ The POLES
1 The Cymry are probably the " men of the combes," or mountaineeis.
Mone, Cdtische Forsckut^en^ p. 329. Cf. Donaldson, Varron, p. 63;
Wright, Essays, vol. 1. p. loi. Gliick, Kelt. Nametty p. 26, thinks they
are " the people." Seep. 57, supra,
• From the Sclavonic word gora^ a mountain. The root is found in the
name of Car-inthia, and also of the Carpathians, which were anciently called
Chorwat, or Chrbat See Adelung, Mithridates, vol. ii. p. 647 ; Knobel,
Volkeriafd, p. 44 ; Schafarik, Slaw. Alterth, vol. L p. 49 ; vol. ii. p. 305 ;
Buttmann, Ortsnatnetiy p. 72 ; Church of England Quarterly. No. 73,
p. 144 ; Bronisch, in Neues Lausitzisches Magazin, vol. xxxiL p. 274.
» Brace, Races, p. 173.
^ Malaja means a mountain in the Turanian languages of India. Lassen,
Ind. Alt. vol. i. p. 57.
• Haupt, in Haupt's Zeitschrift, voL iii. p. 190.
• The root is seen in the Latin arx, and the Greek tfjcpor. See Church
of England Quarterly, No. 73, p. 147.
7 The same root is found in the Latin /Mrris, and in the Tors of Devon-
shire and Derbyshire; The Tyrol, however, may take its name from a
castle near Meran. ■
• The root is found in dimf and athos. Phil. Mus. vol. it p. 366.
• Curtius, Grundziige der Gr. Ety. voL i. p. 32 ; Knobel, Volkertafel,
p. 309 ; Renan, Lang. Shnit. p. 182 ; Stanley, Sinai and Pal. pp. 133, 267 ;
Ewald, Gesch. d. Volkes Isr, voL i. p. 281 ; Movers, Phihtisder, pt ii. vol.i. p. 6.
*® Movers, Phonizier, pt. ii. vol. i. p. 80 ; Ewald, Gesch. d. Volkes Isr.
vol. i. pp. 279—282 ; Movers, Art PhonizUr, in Ersch und Gruber^
pp. 3i9» 327* 33» ; Wilton, NegA, p. 159.
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Lowlanders. 85
or Polacs are the '* men of the plain," 1 VOLHYNIA is the
'Mevel country," WESTPHALIA the great ** western field," «
HOLLAND is the "fen,"^ BATAVLA (Bet-au), the "good
land,"* BRABANT the "ploughed land,"* and EUBCEA is
the "well tilled." • The ARGIVES lived in the " tilled" plain
of Aigos,^ and the LATINS are the men of the " broad
plain" of Latium.® The KURDS are the " shepherds,"
the SARMATIANS are the " men of the steppe," * and the
ARABS as well as the BEDOUIN ^^ are the " men of the
desert," as contrasted with the FELLAHS or FELLAHIN,
the " men of the cultivated ground"
The BURGUNDIANS were the dwellers in burghs or
fortified towns." The TYRRHENIANS, or ETRUSCANS,
1 Schafarik, Slanv, Alt, vol. i. p. 49 ; vol. iL p. 399 ; Amdt, Europ, Spr,
p. 249.
' Zeuss, Die Deutscken^ p. 390.
• From ollarUy marshy ground. Bosworth, Origin^ p. 21.
^ Bet, the first part of this name, is the obsolete positive degree of better
and best. The second syllable au, land, is seen in the word fall-ow, the
bad or faifmg land. Bosworth, Origin^ p. 92 ; Motley, Dutch Republic,
ToL i. p. 4. Cf. Thierry, Hist. Gaul, vol. ii. p. 43,
B Brabant, anciently Brdch-bant, is from the old high German prAcha,
ploughing. Bant means a district, as in the names of the Subantes, Tri-
bantes, and Bucinobantes. Griinm, Gesch, dcr Deut, Spr, p. 593 ; Forste-
mann, Ortsnamett, p. I02.
• Gladstone, Homer, p. 382.
^ The root is seen in Ijpyor. Gladstone, Homer, pp. 3S4 — ^402 ; Thirl-
wall, Greece, vol. i. p. 38 ; Cur tins. Die lonier, p. 17 ; Movers, Die
PhUnizier, pt. L p. 8. The pelasgians are, perhaps, the **men of the
plain." Gladstone, Homer, p. 214. Other conjectures will be found in
Marsh, Horce Pdcugica, p. 17 ; Thirl wall, Greece, voL i p. 45 ; Donaldson*
VarrofUanus, p. 30 ; New Crat, p. 138.
8 Mommsen, Hist, of Rome, vol. i. p. 36 ; Forbiger, Alt, Geogr, voL iii.
p. 649.
• From sara^ a desert or steppe, and mat^ a tribe or race. This root is
lecB in the names of the Jaxa-matse, Thisa-matse, Aga-matse, Chari-matse,
and other Asiatic tribes. Schafarik, Slaw, Alterth, vol. L p. 367.
^^ From arabah, a desert, and badiya, a desert
" Grimm, Gesch, der Deut, Spr, p. 700.
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86 The Names of Natiofis.
were the tower-builders.^ The SPARTANS were the
dwellers in Sparta, the town of "scattered houses," more
loosely l)uilt than other Grecian cities, because uncon-
' fined by a wall.* The RAMNES, as Mommsen thinks,*
were the "Foresters," a meaning which, according to
Wilhelm von Humboldt, attaches to the name of the
BASQUES, the BISCAYANS, and the GASCONS. The
CALEDONIANS are, probably, the " men of the woods," *
FIFE is the " forest," LYCIA* and CORSICA^ the " wooded."
PONTUS was the province on the Black "Sea."
POMERANIA^ is a Sclavonic term, meaning "by the
sea." The Celtic names of the MORINI,® of ARMORICA,*
of MORHIBAN, of MORAY or MURRAY, and of GLAMOR-
1 See Knobel, Volkertafei, p. 90 ; Donaldson, New Crat, p. 133 ;
Donaldson, Varron, p. 13.
* Pott, Etymol(^h€ Spahne, in Kuhn's Zeitschrift^ vol. v. p. 252.
* Hislory of Rome^ vol. L p. 44.
* See p. 65, supra,
* A word akin to lucus must have once existed in the Greek language.
See Gladstone's Horner^ voL i. p. 186. The Lacedemonians are either
the dwellers in the forest, or, more probably, the dwellers in the hollow or
marsh.
* Bochart, vol. iii. p. 579. |
' Yrom pOj by, and tnore^ the sea. So the Pnisi, or PRUSSIANS, are
probably the Po-Rusi, the men near the Rusi, or Russians, or perhaps near
the Russe, a branch of the river Niemen. See Friedricb the Great, Mem,
Hist Brand, and Voigt, Gesch. Preussens^ vol. i. p. 668, quoted by Mahn,
Nam, PreussenSf p. 3. Compare Donaldson, Varron. p. 70 ; Pictet, Oriff.
IndO'Eur. vol. i. p. no; Latham, Ethnology of Brit. Is. p. 73; Amdt,
Eur. Spr. pp. 250, 293.
> And of the Morgetes, on the coast of Sicily, according to Archdeacon
Williams, Essays, p. 89.
' The preposition ar, on, by, or at, is that found in the names of Argyle,
Aries, Armagh, ftc. See Adelung, Mithridates, vol. ii. p. 43, 44 ; Davies,
Cdtic Researches, p. 221; Pott, Etymol. Forsch. vol. ii. P..42 ; Diefenbach,
Cdtica, i. pp. 62, 80; Orig. Eur, p. 231 ; Gluck, Kelt. Namen, pp. 31 —
36 ; Manage, Origines, pp. 61, 680 ; Thierry, Hist d, Gaul, vol. i. pp.
xxxix., 5.
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Greeks. 87
GAN or Moi^ant,^ have the same signification. The
Salian Franks, to whom is attributed the Salic law of
succession, lived by the salt water at the mouth of the
Maas.^ Dr. Donaldson follows Mr. Kenrick • in thinking
that the lONlANS are the "coast-men :* they were called
also the AJywiX^fc, or the " Beachmen."* The ACHiEANS •
may be the " Seamen," and the ^EOLIANS the " mixed
men."^ The HELLENES, if not "hillmen," maybe the
" warriors," whose martial prowess caused their name to
be extended to the whole of the people whom we know
by the name of GREEKS, This last name is a curious
misnomer. Just as the name of Italy originally desig-
nated only the extreme southern portion of the Peninsula,®
^ From mifr, the sea, and ^nt, side;
• Leo, Vor/aufigm, voL i. p. 257.
■ Donaldson, New Crat, pp. 134, 143 ; Kenrick, Egypt of Herodotus^ and
a paper On the Early Kings of Attica^ by J. K[enrick], in the Philolog.
Museum, voL iL pp. 366, 367.
• From ^ZoJF, the coast More probably they are the ** wanderers," from
the Sanskrit root jd, which we find in the names of Ion, Hyperion, and
Amphion. Coitias, lonier^ pp. 7, 8; Curtius, Grundziige, vol. L p. 37*
Lassen and Pott think the root is the Sanskrit juwan, young. This, how-
ever, seems too abstract Knobel, Vblkertafdy p. 79.
• Gladstone, Homer, p. 382 ; Thirlwall, Hist Greece, vol. i. p. 43.
' Conjecturally from an obsolete Greek root, allied to the Latin aqua,
and fomid in the names of the Achelous and the Acheron. See note 6,
p. 79, supra; and Church of England Quarterly, No. 73, p. 155.
7 Donaldson, N^ew Crat. p. 142. Adelung thinks that the names of the
VENETI and of the wends mean shore-dwellers. Mithridates, vol. ii. pp.
451 and 655 ; Schafarik, Slaw. Alterth, vol. i. pp. 159, 164. See, however,
p. 79, supra,
» In Aristotle the word Italy denotes only a portion of Calabria. In the
time of Augustus it came to mean the whole peninsula. Niebuhr, Hist.
Rome^ voL L p. 17 ; Liddell, Hist Rome, vol. up. 16 ; Lewis, Credibility
Ram. Hist. voL i p. 272. So Tyre seems to have given its name to the
whole of SYRIA, and the names of Persian and parsee are traceable to the
small province of Fars, or Pars. Gladstone, Homer, vol. L p. 549. Com-
pare the case of Asia, p. 77, and see Kenrick, Egypt of Herodotus, p. 81 ;
Buttmann, Mythologus, voL ii p. 172. Italy is, perhaps, the "land of
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68 The Nanus of Nations.
so the name of GREECE was derived from a small and
unimportant Epirote tribe of "mountaineers" — the
Graeci, who, in blood, were probably not Hellenes at all,
but lUyrians. By the accident of geographical proximity^
the Romans became first acquainted with this tribe, and
applied their name to the whole of Hellas; and the
modern world has adopted this unfortunate blunder from
the Romans, and stamped it with the approval of its
usage.
cattle." Curtius, Grundzuge, vol. i p. 177 ; Forbiger, Alt. Geogr. vol. iiL
p. 488 ; Bunsen, Phil, of Univ. Hist. vol. i. p. 103. Niebuhr, however,
ridicules this etymology.
^ See Latham, Germania, p. 28 ; Eng. Lang. vol. i. p. 166 ; Mommsen,
Hist, of Rome, vol. i. p. 141 ; Thirlwall, Hist. Greece, vol. L p. 39. Com-
pare the case of Palestine, p. 72, and of the Alemanni, p. 59. So the
gipsies call the Germans, Saxons (see p. 57), and the Magyars call them»
Schwabe, the Suabians being the German tribe with which they first
became acquainted.
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The Phomuians, 89
CHAPTER V.
THE PHCENICIANS.
PhysueU character of Phanician sties — Tyre — Sidon — Phenice — Phctnician
colonies in Crete, Cyprus, Sardinia^ Corsica^ Italy ^ Sicily, Malta, Africa,
Spain, and Britain.
1 HE Phoenicians established a vast colonial empire.
The Mediterranean coast-line of three continents was
thickly dotted over with their settlements, which ex-
tended beyond the pillars of Hercules, as far as the
River Senegal^ to the south, and as far as Britain to
the north. The causes of this development of colonial
dominion must be sought, firstly, in the over-population
of their narrow strip of Syrian coast, shut in between the
mountains and the sea, and, secondly, in the spirit of
mercantile enterprise with which the whole nation was
imbued." * As in the case of the Venetians, the Dutch,
and afterwards still more notably of the English, the
factories, which were established for commercial purposes
alone, rose gradually to be separate centres of dominion.'
^ As evidenced by tlie Phoenician names of Rysadion (Cape Blanco),
Soloeis (Cape Cantin), Soloentia (Cape Bojador), and Bambotus (the river
Senegal). Movers, Phbniuer^ part ii voL ii p. 534 ; Renan, Lang. Shnit,
p. 20a
' Movers^ Die PAonixier, part iL voL ii. p. 5.
' Renan, Langttes Shnitiques, p. 44.
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90 The Phamiciani.
To protect themselves from the lawless violence of the
barbarous tribes with whom they traded, the merchant
princes of Tyre found themselves unwillingly compelled
to assume sovereignty over the surrpunding districts.
The origin of the colonial empire of the Tyrians is
curiously indicated by a physical characteristic which
marks the sites of many of their settlements. These
were placed, almost invariably, on some rocky island
near the coast, or on some promontory connected with
the mainland by a low isthmus. A position of this kind
would usually afford the advantage of a natural harbour,
in which vessels might find safe anchorage, while the
trading settlement would be secured from the attacks of
the barbarous tribes which occupied the mainland. Tyre
itself was probably at first only a trading colony sent
forth from the mother city at the entrance of the Persian
Gulf. The name TZUR ^ or TYRE, which means a " rock,"
characterises the natural features of the site — z, rocky
island near the coast — ^well suited to the requirements
of a band of mercantile adventurers. The neighbouring
city of Aradus stood also upon a littoral island. SIDON
occupies a somewhat similar position, being built on a
low reef running out to sea, and the name, which denotes
a " fishing-station," * suggests to us what must have been
the aspect of the place in those prehistoric times when
the first settlement was made. Not unfrequently the
names of the Phoenician settlements thus indicate the
circumstances of their foundation. Sometimes, as in the
^ Movers, Phonizier^ part ii. voL i. p. 174; Ersch und Gniber, sect iii.
vol. xxiv. p. 436 ; Stanley, Sinai and PaL pp. 270, 49S. The name of
SYRIA is probably derived from that of Tzur, its chief city. lb, p. 270.
• Movers, Phoniziery part it vol. i. pp. 34, 868. Compare the name of
BETH-SAiDA, the *' house of fish.''
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Physical Characteristics of Phoenician Sites. 91
case of Spain, Malaga, or Pachynus, the names refer to
the nature of the traffic that was carried on — more fre-
quently, as in the case of Cadiz, Hippo, or Lisbon, we
have a reference to the fortifications which were found
necessary to protect the wealthy but isolated factory.
We find the name of the nation repeated in Cape
PHINEKE^ in Lycia, also in PHCENICE in Epirus, a place
which now bears the name of Finiki,* and in five places
called PHCENICUS, severally in Cythera, in Messenia, in
Marmarica, in Ionia, and in Lycia* Pliny also states •
that the island of Tenedos, as well as a small island near
the mouth of the Rhone, was called PHCENICE. The
latter may probably be identified with one of the Hieres
islands, which would satisfy the conditions which the
Phoenicians sought in their trading stations. One of the
Lipari islands, anciently called Phcenicodes, now goes by
the name of FELICUDI.
But the most interesting spot on which the Phoenicians
have left their name, is a rocky promontory on the
southern coast of Crete, which possesses good harbours
on either side. This place is still called phceniki, and
has been identified * with the haven of Phoenice men-
tioned in the Acts of the Apostles. St. Luke says,
«We sailed under Crete . . . and came into a place
which is called the Fair Havens . . . and because the
haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part
advised to depart thence also, if by any means they
\ Kenrick, Photniciat p. 87.
< Leake, Northern Greece^ vol. i. p. 66. It is possible that some of these
places may be named from the palm-trees ^^^iw^^* growing on them.
Olshausen, Phon, Ortsnamen^ p. 335.
• Pliny, Ifist. Nat. iil ii, and v. 39.
* Conybeare and Howson, Ufi and Epistles of St, Paulf vol. ii. pp.
395—400 ; Movers, Phonmery pt. ii. vol. ii. p. 260W
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92 The PJicmkians.
might attain to Phenice, which is an haven of Crete, and
there to winter." With true commercial instinct the
Phoenicians seem to have selected for the centre of
their Cretan trade this sea-washed promontory, with its
double harbour, now, as in the time of St Paul, the best
haven along the southern coast of the island.
Lebena, another harbour on the Cretan coast, is the
" Lion promontory." ^ There is a Cretan JORDAN flowing
from a Cretan LEBANON.* IDALIA in Cyprus, now
Dalin, is the "sacred grove."* SAMOS is the "lofty,"
and the name of SAMOTHRACE contains the same root*
From the Phoenician word seluy a rock, we derive the
name of SELINUS, now Selenti, in Cilicia — a town which
stands on a steep rock almost surrounded by the sea.*
TARSUS, the birthplace of St Paul, is "the strong."*
LAMPSACUS, now Lamsaki, near Gallipoli, is the ** pas-
sage,"^ and seems to have been the ferry across the
Hellespont
Sardinia is full of Phoenician names. CAGLIARI, the
chief town, was a Tynan colony, and its Phoenician name
Caralis, or Cararis, has suffered little change. BOSA still
bears its ancient Tyrian name unaltered. MACOPSISA,
now Macomer, is the " town ; " OTHOCA seems to be a
corruption of Utica, the " old " town, and NORA, like so
many other Phoenician settlements, was built upon a
little island off the coast.^
* Kenrick, Phanicia^ p. 83 ; Movers, PkSniMier^ pt. iL vol. iL p. 26a
' Olshausen, PhbnkiscJu Ortsnanien^ p. 324.
* Bochart, vol. iiL p. 356 ; Engel, Kypros, vol. L p. 153, apud Smith,
Diet Geogr, vol. ii. p. 13.
* Bochart, voL ill p. 378 ; Renan, Lang, SimiU p. 44.
' Movers, Ph'onizUr^ pL iL vol. ii. p. 174.
' Gesenius, Monutmnta^ p. 427.
7 Movers, Phonizier^ pt ii. voL iL p. 296.
* Other Phoenician niunes found in Sardinia, are Comus, Carbia, Ollnay
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Sardinia — Corsica — Sicily — Malta. 93
The name of CORSICA, according to Bochart, means
the ** wooded." ^ The desolate forest-clad mountains of
this island seem, however, to have had few attractions
for the Phoenician merchants, since none of the towns
bear names which, in their language, are significant.'
At Caere, in Italy, there was a Tynan settlement,
which anciently bore the Phoenician name of AGYLLA,
the "round town"^ and in lower Italy we find the
Phoenician names of Malaca, Sybaris, Crathis, Tempsa,
Medma, and Hippo.*
Cape PACHYNUS in Sicily, was the " station " for the
boats engaged in the tunny fishery.* Catana, now
CATANIA, is the "little" town.« MAZARA, which still
preserves its ancient name, is the "castle"^ and the
familiar name of ETNA is a corruption of attuna, the
** furnace." * Many other ancient names attest the long
duration of the Phoenician rule in this island.*
Diodorus informs us that the Island of MALTA was a
Phoenician settlement ; and we find that not only does
Buccina, Cunusi, Charmis, and Sulchi. Movers, Phdnizier^ partii. vol. il
pp. 558, 572, 576—578 ; Bochart, vol. iil p. 576.
1 Bochart, vol. iiL p. 579.
« Movers, pL ii. vol. il p. 578.
• Mommsen, Hist, of Rome^ vol. i. p. 136; Okhausen, Phdnkische
Ortsnameny p. 333. Cf. Gesenius, Monum, p. 419.
• Movers, pt il vol. ii. p. 344.
» lb. p. 325.
• lb. p. 329.
' ^. p. 332, Gesenius, p. 425.
• Bochart, vol. iii. p. 526. The name cannot be derived from the Greek
fldlOw, as Pictet shows. It may possibly be Oscan, according to Benfey, in
Hbfer*s Zaischrift, vol. ii. p. 117; Curtius, Grundziige^ vol. i. p. 215.
Cfl Church of England Quarterly^ No. 73, p. 147.
• e,g. Arbela, which also occurs in Palestine ; Thapsus, the '* passage,"
Anesel, the "river head," Amathe, the "castle," Adana, Tabse, Motuca,
Mactorium, Ameselum, Bidis, Cabala, Injcon, and many more. Movers
pp. 329, 339—342; Gesenius, pp. 419, 428.
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94 The Phcmicians.
the name of the island bear out this assertion,^ but at
HAGIAR CHEM — "the stones of veneration" — ^we have
extensive remains of a Phoenician Temple. The site
was explored by Sir H. F. Bouverie about twenty years
ago, when the outlines of the seven courts of the temple
were traced, and the statues of the seven presiding
planetary deities were disinterred.*
The Phoenician capital was, probably, near the south-
eastern extremity of the island. Here is a deep bay, on
the shores of which stand the ruins of a temple of Mel-
earth, the ** city king." * This word cartha, a city, appears
in the Old Testament in the names of twelve places
called Kirjath, as well as in that of CARTHAGE, the great
Tyrian Colony in Northern Africa.*
Carthage — Kart-hada, or Kartha hadtha— the "New
Town " * soon eclipsed in splendour and importance the
older settlement of UTICA, "the ancient";* and before
long she began to rival even the mother city of Tyre,
and to lay the foundations of a colonial empire of her
own.
Spain seems to have been first known to the Phoeni-
1 Mdita means a ''place of refuge," Gesenius, p. 92 ; Bochart, voL iiL
p. 500 ; Movers, in Ersch und Graber, § iu. voL xxiv. p. 349.
■ Kenrick, PAatnicia,p, no; Tallack, JIfaiUt, pp. 115 — 127; Movers,
PhonUier, part iu vol. ii. p. 351.
* The word Melek, a king, is found in all the Semitic languages. It is
seen in the names of Melchisedek, Melchior, Abdu-1-malek, &c.
^ It appears also in the names of Cirta, Ta-carata, Cartili, Cartenna,
Caralis, Carpi, Carepula, Mediccara, Cura, Curum, Rusucurum, Ascurum,
Ausocurro, Curubis, Garra, Medugarra, Tagara, Tagarata, &c. Gesenius,
Scrip. Ling. Ph. Mon. p. 417 ; Wilton, Negeb, p. 99. A suburb ot
Palermo anciently bore the name of Karthada. Movers, pt. IL voL ii.
p. 30.
' Movers, p. 139 ; Gesenius, p. 421 ; Bochart, vol. ill p. 468.
B Bochart, vol. ill p. 474 ; Gesenius, p. 429. Movers (p. 512) doubts
this etymology.
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Spain. 95
cians as the land where the skins of martens^ were
procured, and the name Hispania or Spain appears to be
derived from a Phoenician word sapan, or span^ which
denotes the abundance of these animals.^ Many of the
Phoenician colonies in Spain were Tyrian rather than
Carthaginian, ESCALONA is, probably, the same word
as Ascalon; and MAGUEDA is, perhaps, identical with
Megiddo. Asido, now MEDINA SIDONIA, was, as the
name denotes, a colony of the Sidonians.'
Cadiz, as we learn from Velleius Paterculus, was
founded before Utica, and consequently long before
Carthage. The name CADIZ is a corruption of the
ancient name Gadeira, and is referable to the Phoenician
word gadir, an inclosure.* The site presents the features
of other Tyrian settlements — an island separated by a
narrow channel from the main land. The same is the
case at Carthagena, which is built on a small island in a
sheltered bay. The name of CARTHAGENA is a corruption
of Carthago Nova or new Carthage ; and we may, there-
fore, assign to it a Carthaginian rather than a Tyrian
origin. Near Gibraltar there is another town named
CARTEJA, anciently Carteia.* The name of MALAGA is
1 ToXn Tofmfo'iai — smartens, or perhaps rabbits — see the passages from
Herodotus, iv. 192 ; Strabo, ill 2, 6 ; SchoL in Aristoph. Ran. 475 ;
^lian, V. H. xii. 4, and other writers which are quoted by Movers, part ii.
Tol. iL p. 606. Compare Chamock, Local Etymology y p. 254.
* Bochart, vol. iil p. 631 ; Niebuhr, Lectures on Ethfiol. and Geograph.
voL ii. p. 279.
* Movers, part ii. vol. ii. p. 641.
4 Movers, p. 621 ; Gesenius, p. 304 ; Kenrick, p. 126. Compare the
names of the iEgades Islands near Sicily, of Geder (Joshua xii. 13);
Gedera (Josh. xv. 36) ; Gedor (Josh. xv. 38) ; and Gadara, the city of the
Gadarenes (Josephus, Jewish War, iv. 3 ; Sl Mark v. i). See Bochart,
ToL iiL p. 608 ; Movers, pp. 139, 549.
* Perhaps identical with Tartessus. Duke of Buckingham, Diary,
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96 The Phamieians,
derived from the Phoenician word malaca^ salt^ Hispalis,
now SEVILLA, was also a Carthaginian colony, and the
name is deducible from a Phoenician word meaning a
" plain." * The TAGUS is the river of fish.8 The name
of Olisippo, which has been corrupted into LISBON,
contains the word hippo, the ''walled'* town, which
occurs so frequently in Phoenician names. There were
three cities called HIPPO in Africa, one of them cele-
brated as the See of the great Augustine, and two of the
same name in Spain.*
Tarraco, now TARRAGONA, is the "palace."* The
name of CORDOVA, anciently Cortuba, may be derived
either from cotebUy the "olive press," or from Kartha
Baal, the "city of BaaL"« BELON, now Belonia, near
Tarifa;' as well, perhaps, as the BALEARIC^ Isles,
contain the name of Bel or Baal, the deity whose name
enters into the composition of so many Tyrian and
voL L p. 70 ; Bochart, vol. iii. p. 615 ; Olshausen, Pkon, Ortsnamen^ p.
328 ; Smith, Dictionary, vol. i. p. 528 ; Movers, pp. 632 — 635.
1 Bochart, vol. iii. p. 616; Movers, p. 632. Cf. Gesenius, p. 312;
Prescott, Ferd, af id Isabella, vol. iL p. 13.
> Bochart, p. 603 ; Gesenius, p. 423 ; Movers, p. 64.1.
• Ford, Gatherings, p. 28. The root appears in the name of the god
Dagon.
4 We have also Orippo, Belippo, Baesippo, Irippo, and LAcippo, all on
the Spanish coast Humboldt, Priifung, p. 64 ; Movers, Phon, pt. ii.
vol. ii. pp. 144, 640; Cf. Bochart, vol. iii. pp. 475, 627 ; Gesenius, Monum.
p. 423.
• Bochart, vol. iii. p. 623.
• Bochart, vol. iii p. 602.
7 Movers, p. 639.
• Bochart, vol. iii. p. 634. See, however, p. 81 supra, Ehusus, now
ivigA, means the " pine island," and the Greek name Pitusae is merely a
translation of the earlier Phoenician appellation. Movers, Die Phimisiep^
p. 545 ; art. Ph'onizien in Ersch und Gruber, p. 349. The Balearic Islands
present many Phcenician names, such as Cinici, Cunid Bocchoram, Jamna,
Mago, and Sanifera. Movers, pp. 584, 585,
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Britain, 97
Carthaginian names, such as Hannibal, Asdrubal,
Maherbal, Ethbaal^ Agbalos, Jezebel, Belshazzar, and
Baalbec.1 There are many other places in Spain which
seem originally to have been Carthaginian colonies, since
their names can be explained from Punic sources.
Such are Abdera, now ADRA; Barcino, now BARCELONA; ^
Ebora, now EVORA, the "ford";* Arci, now ARKOS; the
River Anas, now the GUADIANA ; TOLEDO, and others.*
Whether the Carthaginians reached the shores of
Britain is uncertain. We have already seen that the
Euskarian origin of the name makes it probable that
the earliest knowledge of the island was obtained from
Iberic traders ; and it certainly is not improbable that
the Carthaginians followed in the track discovered by
their Spanish subjects. It is a noteworthy circumstance
that the almost unique physical characteristics of St.
MichaeFs Mount, in Cornwall, conform precisely to the
account given by Diodorus Siculus of the trading
station from which the Phoenicians obtained their tin.
We may mention, though we can hardly maintain the
supposition, that the names of MARAZION,^ the " hill by
* Kenrick, Phcenicia^ pp. 129, 300; Renan, Langues SSmitiques^ p. 44;
Bochart, vol. iii. p. 634.
* Movers, p. 636. v
* Jb, p. 640. Cf. Gesenius, p. 422.
^ E,g, Muigis, Urci, Certima, Saborra, Suel, Salduba, Ucia, Castalo,
and Nebrissa. Movers, pp. 633 — 643. Gesenius, Scr. Ling, Ph. Mon,
voL i. pp. 340, 422.
^ Marazion seems to have been a Jewish settlement at a later time, and
it is possible that the name may be Hebrew, rather than Phoenician. It
can, however, be explained from Cornish sources. See Halliwell, Cornwall^
pp. 47 — 52 ; Pryce, Archaologia Comu-Brit, s. v. On the Phcenicians in
Cornwall, see Wilson, PrehisL Ann, 0/ Scotland^ p. 196 ; Bochart, vol. iii.
pp. 648 — 654 ; Turner, Anglo-Saxons, vol. i. pp. 51 — 55 ; Smith's Cassite-
rides; and a tract on the Phoenician Tin Trade, recently published by
Colonel James.
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08 The Phoenicians,
the sea/' and POLGARTH (root Kartha) are of Phoenician
origin, and are records of the first intercourse of our
savage ancestors with the civilized world.^
1 On Tynan and Carthaginian names, see the erudite work of Bochart,
Geographia Sacra pars posterior^ Cha?taan^ seu de Coloniis et sermotu
Fhanicum, and the more trustworthy works of Movers, Du Phonizier, and
the Article Phbtuzien in Ersch und ember's AUgemdne EncyfuopadU^
sect. iii. vol. xxiv. See also Kenrick's Phanicia; and the valuable treatise
of GeseniuSy Scriptura Linguaque Phanicia Monumetita. Gesenius dis-
cusses the etymologies of more than 4CX> names, collected from modem
maps, the ancient itineraries, coins, inscriptions, and the ancient Geo-
graphers, Ptolemy, Strabo, &c.
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The Arabs in Europe, 99
CHAPTER VI.
THE ARABS IN EUROPE.
734^ Empire of the Cailiphs — Arabic Names in Southern Italy and SicUy —
Tribes by which the conquest of Sicily was effected^Conquest of Spain —
Tarifa and Gibraltar — Arabic article — River-names of Spain — Arcdfs in
Southern France— They hold the passes of the Alps^The Monte Moro pass
and its Arabic Names — The Muretto pass and Fontresina.
The Arab conquests in the seventh and eighth centuries
form one of the most remarkable episodes in the history
of the world. At the time of its greatest extension, the
empire of the Cailiphs extended from the Indus to the
Loire. In the course of a single century they overran
Persia, Syria, Egypt, Northern Africa, Spain, and the
south of France.
We find Arabic names scattered over the whole of
this vast region ; and it will be an interesting and pro-
fitable task to investigate these linguistic monuments of
Moslem Empire, confining our attention more especially
to those districts where Christianity has long resumed its
sway.
In Southern Italy the dominion of the Arabs lasted
hardly half a century, and consequently we cannot expect
to find many Arabic names. Their chief conquests lay in
the neighbourhood of the cities of Benevento and Bari,
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lOO The Arabs in Europe,
not far from which we find the doubtful Arabic names of
ALIFE, ALFIDENA, and the river ALMARO.^
In Sicily, where the Arab colonization was more ex-
tensive, and where their empire was more enduring than
in Italy, we naturally find more abundant and less
doubtful traces of their presence. The well-known name
of MARSALA means, in Arabic, the " Port of God." Gebel,
the Arabic name for a mountain, is still retained in the
patois of the Sicilian peasantry, who prefer the mongrel
term mongibello to the ancient Phoenician name of
Etna.2 From the same root comes the name of the
GIBELLINA — a mountain ridge of the Province of Tra-
pani.
It would appear that the Arabs kept down by mili-
tary rule a considerable subject population, for the island
is covered with fortresses of their erection. The position
of these we can often discover by means of the Arabic
word kaVahy or kaVat^ a castle on a rock — a root which
enters into the names of many Sicilian towns, such as
CALOTABALOTTA (Kal'at-a-bellotta, oak-tree castle*),
CALATAGIRONE, or Caltagirone (Karat-a-Girun), CALA-
SCIBETTA (Kal'at-a-xibetta), CALATAFIMI (KaFat-a-fieni),
CALATAMISETTA (castle of the women), CALATAVUTURA,
CALTANISETTA, CALATABIANO, CALAMONACI, and CATA-
LAMITA.^
^ See Wenrich, Rerum ab Arabibus gesiantm Commmtarii^ p. 140.
* Duff, in Oxford Essays for 1857, p. 93; Wenrich, Rer, ab Ar, gat,
p. 309 ; Pihan, Ghssaire^ p. 136.
' This word is not confined to the Semitic languages. We have the
Persian K&lat or KaldtaA, a "hill castle," and the Sanskrit Kalatra
(t Kataka)y a "fortress." Pictet, Orig. Jndo-Eur. vol. ii. p. 194.
* Gayangos, Mohammedan Dynasties^ vol. i. p. 450 ; Wenrich, p. 308.
* Compare the names of khelat, the capital of Beloochistan, and of
GALATA, a walled suburb of Constantinople. YENIKALE in the Crimea is
Yeni Kal'ah, the "new fortress"— a name half Turkish, and half Arabic.
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Sicily. loi
There are also in this island many Arabic names of
villages and farms.^ The word menzily a *' station," or
"hut," is found in MISILMERI (Menzil-Emtr), and in
MEZZOJUSO (Menzil-Yusuf). The most common of these
Arabic prefixes is rahly a " house," which appears in the
names of REGALMUTO and RE-SULTANA. It occurs no
less than one hundred and seven times, while Kal'at is
only found in twenty names, and Menzil in eighteen*
We have raSy a cape, in the names of RASICANZIR, the
cape of swine, RASICALBO, the dog's cape, RASACARAMI,
the cape of vineyards, and RASICORNO, or Cape Horn.*
In Palermo the two chief streets bear the Arabic names
of the CASSARO, or " Castle Street," and the maccheda,
or " New Street,"* and we find many other Arabic names
scattered here and there over the island, such as GODRA-
NO, the " marsh " ; CHADRA, and CADARA, the " green " ;
ALCARA, MISTRETTA, MUSSOMELI, GAZZI, MONTE ME-
RINO ; and a few personal names, such as ABDELALI and
ZYET.* Altogether there are in Sicily some 328 local
names of Arabic origin, and the distribution of these is
remarkable, as showing the relative amount of Arab in-
fluence in different portions of the island. In the Val di
1 As Abela says, the Arabs have left in Sicily " un gran novero di nomi
di citt^ di terre, e di luoghi particolari." Malta Illustrata^ vol. i. p. 682.
There are many Arabic words in the Sicilian patoisy as saliarCy to wonder,
chamarru^ an ass, hannaca^ a necklace. The few Arabic words in Italian,
snch as alcova^ a chamber, ammiraglioy an admiral, arsenale, an arsenal,
and the vessels called carraca ^XiAfeluca^ were probably introduced through
the Spanish. See Bianchi-Giovini, Dominazione degli A rati in Italia,
pp. 55, 56 J Diez, Cram, Rom. Spr. vol. I pp. 59, 70; Duff, in Oxford
Essays for 1857, p. 91 ; Wenrich, pp. 309—312, 323.
« Amari, Storia dei Musulmani, vol. ii. p. 434.
* Bianchi-Giovini, Dominazione degli Arabia p. 56 ; Wenrich, p. 308 ;
Amari, Storia dei Musulmani, vol. ii. p. 435.
4 Bianchi-Giovini, Domin, d, Arabia p. 57.
' Amari, Storia dei Mustdmani, vol. ii. p. 435. "
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I02 The Arabs in Europe,
Mazara there are 209 Arabic names, in the Val di Noto
100, and the Val Demone only 19.^
The mediaeval and modern names of Sicilian villages
supply us with curious information as to the countries out
of which was gathered the motley host that fought under
the standard of the Prophet. In Sicily alone we find
traces of tribes from Scinde, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Syria,
and Spain.^ Thus, a fountain near Palermo, now called
DENNISINNI, was anciently Ain es-Sindiy the fountain of
Scinde. But the conquest of Sicily seems to have been
effected, for the most part, by troops levied from the
neighbouring continent of Africa. There are more than
a dozen indisputable names of Berber tribes to be found
in Sicily, chiefly in the neighbourhood of the Val di
Mazara.^
In the islands of Sardinia and Corsica the Arab rule
was brief, and we find no Arabic names, except AJACCIO,
and, perhaps, ALGHERO and ORISTAN. But Malta is full
of Arabic names. The word mirsahy a port, which is found
in the name of Marsala, in Sicily, appears in Malta in
the names of numerous bays and inlets, such as MARSA
SCIROCCO, MARSA SCALA, MARSA MUSCETTO, and MARSA
FORNO. The ravines commonly go by the name of vyed,
or wiedy a corruption of the Arabic word wadt} The
hills have the prefix gebel^ the fountains aaytiy the wells
A Amari, Storia dei Musulmanif vol. ii. p. 435.
' The local names of Sicily, as illustrating the nationality of tfu tribes by
which the conquest was effected, have been investigated by Amari, Storia
dei Musulmani di Sicilian vol. ii. pp. 31 — 36,
• Amari, Musulmani, vol. ii. p. 35.
^ An exhaustive enumeration and explanation of the names in Malta is to
be found in a work called Malta Illustratay Ouvero descrizione di Malta con
sue antickith^ ed altre notitie, by F. Giovaniiancesco Abela, vol. L pp.
231—369.
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Malta. 103
bir, the castles cala^ the houses deyr, the caves ghar, the
villages raJial^ the capes ras. From the map of the
island it would be easy to collect scores of such names
as AAYN rL KEBIRA, the great fountain; aayn TAIBA,
the good fountain ; GEBEL OOMAr, the mountain of
Omar; RAS EL TAFAL, Chalk Cape. In the neigh-
bouring isle of Gozo we find the Arabic village-names
of NADUR, ZEBBEY, GARBO, SANNAT, and XEUCHIA.
Among the peasants of Malta and Gozo a corrupt
Arabic patois still holds its ground against the Lingua
Franca, the Italian, and the English which threaten to
supplant it^
Of the island of Pantellaria the Duke of Buckingham
says, " the language spoken is a bad Italian, mixed up
with a bastard Arabic. All the names of places, head-
lands, and points, are pure Arabic, and every hill is
called ghibel something." ^
In no part of Europe do we find such abundant
vestiges of the Arab conquest as in Spain and Portugal.
The long duration of the Arab rule — nearly eight
centuries — is attested by the immense number of
Arabic local names, as compared with the dozen or
half-dozen that we find in Italy, France, or Sardinia,
whence they were soon expelled.
1 See Tallack's Malta, p. 246. It has been asserted by Michaelis, Majus,
and other writers, that the Maltese dialect contains many Punic words, and
contains traces of Punic grammar. This is denied by Gesenius. See his
Versuch ilber die Maitesische Spracke zur Beurthaiung der netUick wieder-
hoklUn Behauptung dass sie ein Ueberrest der Altpunischen sey. He allows
that there are many Berber or Moorish words mingled with the Arabic, but
none clearly to* be referred to the time of the Carthaginian conquest The
same conclusion, substantially, is arrived at by Kosegarten, in Hofei^s
Zeitschrifty voL ii. pp. I, 30, and by Renan, Langties SSmitiqtm, pt. i,
p. 413.
« Private Diary ^ vol. ii. p. 139,
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104 ^^^ Arabs in Europe,
The very names of the first invaders are conserved in
local memorials. In September, a.d. 710, Tarif-Abu-
Zar'ah, a Berber freed-man, effected a landing at a
place which has ever since been called after him —
TARIFA. He was quickly followed by Tarik-Ibn-
Zeyad,^ a liberated Persian slave, who, at the head of
a body of light horsemen, advanced, in a few weeks,
some seven hundred miles across the peninsula, as far as
the Bay of Biscay. This bold chieftain landed in the
Bay of Algeziras,* and he has left his name pn the
neighbouring rock of GIBRALTAR, which is a corruption
of the Arabic name Gebel-al-Tarik, the "Mountain of
Tarik."
The accompanying sketch-map will serve to give a
rough notion of the distribution of the Arabic names
upon the map of Spain. Unfortunately, owing to the
smallness of the scale, it has been impossible to indicate
the position of more than a proportion of the names.
These local linguistic monuments make it easy for us
to distinguish those districts where the Arab population
was most dense. The Arabic names are seen to cluster
thickly round Lisbon and Valentia ; and in the neigh-
1 Mariana and Conde assert the identity of these two chieftains, but the
latest and best authority on the subject, Reinaud, in his Itwasuni des
SarazinSf pp. 432, 433, has vindicated the accuracy of Gibbon, and has
conclusively shown that Tarif and Tarik were separate personages. See
also Gayangos, vol. i. pp. 264—289, 318, 517; Sayer, Hist. 0/ Gibraltar,
pp. 5, 6; Murphy, Mahomdan Empire, pp. 53 — 59; Conde, Dominacion,
pp. 14, 15 ; Pihan, Ghssaire, p. 137.
* Algeziras means ** the island." By the Arabic chroniclers it is called
Jezurah al-Khadhra, "the green island." Gayangos, vol. i. pp. 317, 517 ;
Prescott, Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. i. p. 398 ; Sayer, Hist, of Gibraltar^
p. 8. ALGIERS is a corruption of the same name, Al Jezirah, a name which
has also been given to Mesopotamia — the peninsula between the Tigris and
the Euphrates.
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Distribution of Arabic Names.
105
bourhood of Seville, Malaga, and Granada,^ the last
strongholds of the Moslem kingdom, they are also very
DISTRIBUTION OP ARABIC NAMES IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
numerous; but as we approach the Pyrenees, and the
mountains of Galicia and the Asturias, these vestiges of
1 ContnuT" to what might have been supposed, we find that the Arabic
names in the immediate vicinity of Granada are relatively less numerous
than in some other places, as the neighbourhoods of Valencia and Seville.
This is probably due to the forced eviction of the inhabitants of Granada
under Ferdinand and Isabella, and the wholesale substitution of a large
Chxistian population ; whereas in the case of earlier conquests, the Arab
population, being allowed to remain tiU gradually absorbed, succeeded in
transmitting the greater number of the local names.
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io6 ' The Arabs in Europe,
Moslem rule entirely disappear, and are replaced by-
names derived from 'the Basque, Celtic, and Spanish
languages.
An obvious feature which characterizes the local
nomenclature of Spain and Portugal, is the prevalence
of the Arabic definite article al^ which is prefixed to
a very large proportion of names, such as Alicant,
Albuera, Almanza, Alcala, Almarez, Almeida, Alham-
bra, and Algoa. On the maps of the Peninsula pub-
lished by the Useful Knowledge Society, there appear
about two hundred and fifty names containing this
prefix. Of these sixty-four per cent, are found to the
south of the Tagus, and only thirty-six per cent, to the
north of that river.
The Spanish river-names beginning with Guad are
very numerous. In Palestine and Arabia this word
appears in the form wadt} a "ravine," and hence a
" river." The name of the GUADALQUIVIR is a cor-
ruption of Wadi-1-Kebtr, the great river — a name which
is found also in Arabia. We have also the river-names
GUADALCAZAR, which IS Wadi-1-Kasr, the river of the
palace ; GUADALHORRA, from Wadi-1-ghar, the river of
the cave; GUADARRANKE, from Wadi-1-ramak, the
mare's river; GUADALQUITON, from Wadi-1-kitt, the cat
river ; GUADALAXARA, from Wadi-1-hajarah, the river of
the stones; GUAROMAN, from Wadi-r-roman, the river
of the pomegranate-trees ; GUADALAVIAR, from Wadi-1-
abyadh, the white river; GUADALUPE, the river of the
bay ; GUALBACAR, the ox river ; GUADALIMAR, the red
river; guadarama, the sandy river; guadaladiar,
* This word appears to have been adopted by the Greeks, and comipted
into the form taxri^. Renan, Lang, SirnU, pt. i. p. 205. Cf. Peyron,
Lexicon Copt. p. 160.
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Arabic Names in Spain, 107
the river of houses ; and the more doubtful names of
GUADAIRA, the river of mills; guadalertin, the
muddy river; and GUADALBANAR, the river of the
battle-field. We have also the GUADIANA and the
GUADALETE, which embody the ancient names of the
Anas^ and the Lethe.^
The name of MEDINA, which means "city," appears
not only in Arabia* and Senegambia, but also five
times in Spain.* The word kaFahy a castle, which we
have traced in Sicily and Malta, is found in calatayud,
"Job's castle,"^ in Aragon; calahorra, the ''fort of
stones," « in Old Castile ; and CALATRAVA, the " Castle
of Rabah," ^ in New Castile. There are also half a dozen
places called ALCALA, which is the same word with the
definite article prefixed.
Such names as benavites, beniajar, benarraba,
BENICALAF, BENIAUX, BENTARIQUE, and BENADADID,
1 The name of the Anas is Phoenician according to Bochart, vol. iii.
p. 627, but it is capable of a Celtic etymon.
* We find also the rivers Guadafion, Guadehenar, Guadajor, Guadalbarro,
GoadalbuUon, Guadalcana, Guadalerce, Guadalertin, Guadaleste, Guadal-
mallete, Guadalmedina, Guadalmelera, Guaderriza, Guedaxira, Guadazamon,
Gnadazelete, Guadacenas, Guadetefra, Guadarmena, Guadalfeo, Guad-
almez, Guadalcalon, and others, the names of which are elucidated with
more or less success by Gayangos, Weston, and De Sousa.
* Yathrib, the city to which Mohammed fled from Mecca, bore thence-
forward the name of Medtnet-ennabi, the dty of the prophet Caussin de
Perceval, Histoire des Arabes^ voL iii. p. 21.
^ Medinaceli, Medina Sidonia, &c. Pihan, p. 200 ; Prescott, Ferd, and
/sab. vol. i. p. 398.
• Built by the chieftain Ayub, or Job, who took a foremost part in the
conquest, and was afterwards Governor of Spain. Conde, Dominacion,
pp. 30 — ^33 ; Gayangos, vol. i. p. 373; Weston, Remains of Arabic in the
Spanish and Portuguese Langtiages, p. 143 ; De Sousa, Vestigios da Lingua
Arabica em Portugal ^ p. 4.
• Weston, p. 145.
^ Gayangos, vol. ii. p. 356. Cf. Weston, p. 146.
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io8 Tfu Arabs in Europe,
may embody curious information as to the names of the
original Arab settlers, for the first syllable of such names
is the patronymic Beni, " sons," and the remainder is a
personal or tribal appellation.^
But the great mass of Hispano- Arabic names are
descriptive terms, relating to the artificial or natural
features of the country. Such are the names ALBORGE,
the turret; ALBUFEIRA, the lake;^ ALMEIDA, the table;
ALCACOVA, the fortress (a common name); almanza,
the plain ; ^ ALPUXARRAS, the " grassy" mountains ; *
ALMENA,^ the battlemented tower ; ALMAZEN, the store-
house;* ALMADEN,^ the mine; ALHAMBRA, the red;*
ALGARBE, the west ; ® ARRECIFE, the causeway ; ^^ alma-
ZARA, the mill;^i ALCAZAR, the palace; ALDEA, the
village; ALCANA, the exchange;" ALCANTARA, the
bridge ;^^ ALQUERIA, or ALCARRIA, the farm;^* and
^ On the inferences to be drawn from Spanish names as to the nation-
alities of the Moslem settlers, see Gayangos, voL i. pp. 356 ; vol. ii pp.
20 — 29, 402, 403, 442. On the prefix Beni^ see Wilton, Negeb^ p. 14a
• A corruption of Al-bukeyrah, Gayangos, vol. i. p. 374.
« Gayangos, vol. i. p. 354 ; vol. ii. p. 515 ; Chamock, Loc, Etym, p. 28.
• Prescott, Ferd» and Isab. p. 398.
• From the same root comes the word minaret, Weston, p. 61.
• From the same root comes the word magazine, De Sousa, p. 45 ;
Chamock, Loc, Etym, p. 8 ; Weston, p. 60 ; Engelmann, Glossaire, p. 52.
' The greatest quicksilver mine in Europe. Engelmann, p. 47.
" De Sousa, p. 38 ; Weston, p. 54 ; Pihan, p. 31 ; Murphy, Mahometan
Empire in Spain, p. 19 1.
• De Sousa, p. 35 ; Weston, p. 53 ; Pihan, p. 29 ; Conde, Dominacion^
p. 671.
'^^ Prescott, Ferd. and Isab, p. 398 ; Engelmann, p. 62.
" Gayangos, vol. ii. p. 541.
^ From the same root come dogana and danane, Pihan, p. 113; Weston,
p. 45-
*• Pihan, p. 24 ; De Sousa, p. 22 ; Gayangos, voL i. pp. 61, 370 ;
Weston, p. 44.
" Gayangos, vol. i. p. 353 ; Conde, p. 671 ; Engelmann, p. 23.
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Arabic Names in Spain, 109
TRAFALGAR {Taraf al'ghar)y the promontory of the
cave.^
A large number of Hispano-Arabic names are illus-
trated in Weston's " Remains of Arabic in the Spanish
and Portuguese languages," and in Pihan's "Glossaire
des Mots Fran^ais tirds de TArabe, du Persan, et du
Turc" A competent and exhaustive investigation of
these names has, as far as I am aware, never been
attempted ; and it would, undoubtedly, supply materials
of great value to the historian of the conquest. The
Arabic names in Portugal have been well discussed by
Fr. Joao de Sousa, in a work entitled, "Vestigios da
Lingua Arabica em Portugal." ^
Flushed by the ease and rapidity of their Spanish
conquest, the Arabs crossed the Pyrenees, and spread
their locust swarms over the southern and central
regions of France, as far as Tours. In the neighbour-
hood of this city, in the year 732, Charles Martel gained
one of the great decisive battles which have changed the
current of the world's history, and the almost total
destruction of the Moslem host rescued western
Christianity from the ruin which seemed to be im-
pending. After this event the fugitives seem to have
retired into Provence, where they maintained a preca-
rious sovereignty for some thirty years.
In the Department of the Basses Pyr^n^es we find
some vestiges of these refugees. At Oloron, a town
1 See p. 103, supra ; and Gayangos, vol. i. p. 320.
' On Spanish words of Arabic origin, see Diez, Gram, d, Rom, Spr,
vol. i. pp. 70, 333 ; Gayangos, History of the Mohammedan Dynasties in
Spain, vol. ii. pp. xxxvi. clxix. dxx. ; and vol. i. p. 487 ; and Engelmann,
Glossaire des Mots Espagnols et Portugais dMvis de VArabe, whose lists
contain about 400 Spanish and Portuguese words derived from the Arabic.
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1 10 The Arabs in Europe,
not far from Pau, is a fountain called LA HOUN (airi)
DEOUS MOUROUS, or the fountain of the Moors; and
in a neighbouring village, which bears the name of
MOUMOUR, or Mons Mauri, there stands a ruined tower
called LA TOUR DES MAURES.^
FONTARABlE, in the Department of the Charente
Infirieure, marks a kind of oasis in the sandy desert of
the Landes, and, like Fontarabia on the Bidassoa, may-
have been a station of the Arabs.*
In \}[i^ patois of south-eastern France there are several
words of Arabic origin,^ while down to the seventeenth
century, many families of Languedoc, descended from
these Moors, bore the name of "Marranes." In
Aiivergne also there is a pariah race called Marrons,
whose conversion to Christianity has given the French
language the term marrane^ " a renegade." *
After an interval of more than a century, the Moorish
pirates, who had long infested the coast of Provence,
established themselves in the stronghold of Fraxinet,
near Frejus (a.D. 889), and held in subjection a large
part of Provence and Dauphiny. The FORl&T des
MAURES, near Frejus, is called after them; and the
names of PUY MAURE and MONT MAURE, near Gap,
of the COL DE MAURE, near Chiteau Dauphin, and
of the whole county of the MAURIENNE, in Savoy,
are witnesses of the rule in France^ of these Moorish
conquerors.
1 Michel, Hist des Races Maudites^ vol. ii. p. 98.
* In this latter case much may be said in favour of the etymology Fuente
Rabia — Fons Rabidus, or rapidus. Salverte, Essai sur Us Noms^ voL ii.
p. 264.
> A list will be found in Astruc, Hist Nat, de Languedoc, pp. 494 — 497.
• Michel, R<ues Maudites, vol. ii. pp. 45, 96.
" On the subject of the Moors in France, see Reihaud, Invasion des
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Moors in France, in
In the tenth century the Moors still held the Mau-
rienne, and in the year 911, by a convention with Count
Hugo of Provence, they crossed the Cottian Alps, and
took possession of the passes of the Pennine chain,
which they guarded for Count Hugo's benefit, while
they levied black mail on travellers for their own. In
the years 921 and 923, and again in 929, the chroniclers
record that English pilgrims, proceeding to Rome, were
attacked by Saracens while crossing the Alps. The
bishops of York, Winchester, Hereford, and Wells were
among those who thus suffered.^ In the year 973 St.
Majolus, Abbot of Cluny, was taken prisoner by these
marauders at Orsi^res, on the pass of the Great St.
Bernard, and he could only obtain his freedom by the
payment of a ransom, which consisted of a thousand
pounds' weight of the church plate of Cluny .^
Such are the few meagre historical facts relating to
the Arabs in the Alps which we are able to glean from
mediaeval chroniclers ; fortunately, it is possible to
supplement our knowledge by the information which
has been conserved in local names. The mountain to
the east of the hospice on the Great St. Bernard bears
the name of MONT MORT, which there is reason for be-
lieving to be a corruption of Mont Maure. If this name
Sarazins en France^ passim ; Bouche, Histoire de Provence^ vol. i. pp. loi,
204 ; Palgrave, Normandy and England^ vol. i. p. 416 ; Bianchi-Giovini,
Dominatione degli Arabia pp. 25, 26 ; Gayangos, vol. i. p. 228 ; Wenrich,
Rer, ab Arab, gest, pp. 123, 144 — 146; Papon, Histoirede Pfovence^ vol. ii.
pp. 77, 146, 165.
1 The capture of S. Elphege is related by Osbem, Vit. S. Elpheg. apud
Thmpp, Anglo-Saxon Home^ p. 247. Cf. St. John, Four Conquests of
England^ vol. i. p. 326.
• Reinaud, Invasion des Sarazins en France, p. 166; Wenrich, Rer. Arab,
p. 147.
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1 1 2 The A tabs in Europe,
stood alone, we might hardly feel ourselves justified in
connecting it with the local traditions which refer to the
Arabs in the Alps. We find, however, that the name
MONTE MORO, the "Moor's Mountain," is attached to
another pass which was much frequented in early times,^
before the great roads of the St. Gothard, the Simplon,
and the Spliigen had been constructed. Though no
direct historical evidence of the fact exists, it seems
impossible not to believe that this pass of the Monte
Moro must have been held by these "Saracens," or
"Moors."
In the first place, we find that a strong position, which
commands the passage up the Val Anzasca on the
Italian side of the pass, is called CALASCA — z. name
which is apparently derived from the Arabic kaVah, a
castle, which occurs in the Alcalas and Calatas of Spain
and Sicily. The peak opposite Calasca is called Piz
DEL MORO. On the other side of the valley is the cima
DEL MORO, beneath which lies the hamlet of MORGHEN.
Crossing the Moro pass, the first hamlet we arrive at
is placed on a mountain spur or terrace, which com-
mands the view both up and down the valley. This
place is called almagel, which, on the hypothesis of an
Arab occupation, would be a most appropriate name,
since al mahal denotes in Arabic " the station," or " the
halting-place." A high grassy mound, probably the
terminal moraine of an ancient glacier, is called the
TELLIBODEN, the first syllable of which name seems to
^ A paved Roman road exists beneath the snows of the Monte Moro. In
the i6th and 17th centuries a great permanent extension of the Nev^ took
place in the neighbourhood of Monte Rosa, which has brought the summit
of the Moro above the summer snow-line, and rendered the Moro impassable
for mules. Lyell, Antiq, o/Man, p. 292 ; Murray, Handbook for Switser^
land, p. 490.
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The Arabs in the Alps, 113
be the Arabic word tell^ a round hill. The neighbouring
pasture goes by the name of the matmark, the ancient
form of which was Matmar, or the " Moor's Meadow."
Close by is another pasture called the EYEN — a name
which is pronounced in exactly the same way as the
Arabic ain, a " fountain," or " source of waters " — a very
apposite description, as will be admitted by all those
Alpine tourists who, before the recent construction of a
road, have splashed across it, ankle deep, for some
hundred yards.
Passing the DISTEL Alp — a doubtful Arabic name —
we find the valley completely barred by an enormous
glacier. This is called the alalein Glacier, and the
Arabic interpretation of the name, Aid *l atn, or "Over
the source," gives a most graphic picture of the preci-
pitous wall of ice, with the torrent of the Visp rushing
from the vast cavern in its side.
Opposite Almagel, and a little to the n9rth of the
Alalein Glacier, are the MISCHABEL HORNER, three
peaks, the midmost of which, the Dom, is the loftiest
summit in Switzerland.^ The latter part of the name
Mi-schabel is pronounced almost exactly in the same
way as the Arabic gebel, a mountain. The genius of the
Arabic language would, however, require gebel to be a
prefix rather than a suffix, but it is quite possible that
Mischabel may be a hybrid formation, akin to Mon-
gibello in Sicily .^ Or we may derive the name from the
Arabic word, migbdl, which means, according to Freytag,
** crassus, ut mons." The conquerors of the East, we
may well believe, brought with them the word dome.
^ Mont Blanc is in France — Monte Rosa partly in Italy.
• See p. lOO, supra.
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1 14 The Arabs in Europe.
which Jerome tells us was, in Palestine and Egypt, the
universal designation of a house roof.^
The northern outlier of the Mischabel range is called
the BALFRAIN, a name whose Arabic interpretation —
" the peak with two river sources " — describes the twin
glaciers which hang from the flanks of the mountain, and
send their tributary streams to join the Visp.-
It is probable that the etymologies assigned to some
of these names may be fallacious, but the cases are too
numerous, and the accordances with the physical features
of the spot are too precise, to allow us to explain them
away altogether by any hypothesis of accidental coinci-
dence of sound ; and, therefore, though we may not be
able to find any historical evidence whatever that the
Moro was one of those passes which were occupied by
Count Hugo's Moors, yet it seems impossible not to
believe, on the evidence of the names alone, that the pre-
sent inhabitants of the Saas Valley are descended from
the marauders from the Maurienne. '
The third of the passes which in ancient times formed
the chief communication between Italy and the North,
was that which connects the Lake of Como with the
Engadine. This, also, it would seem, was occupied by
the Arabs. Near the summits of the St Bernard and of
the Moro we have the Mont Mort and the Piz del Moro ;
and so, near the summit of the Maloja and MURETTO
passes we have the Piz muretto, the PIZ mortiratsch,
and the Piz morter. Descending the pass on the
northern side, we come to a very ancient stone bridge of
one arch, springing from rock to rock across a narrow
^ See Ducange sub voc. Vol. ii. p. 901.
' In the neighbourhood we find the names Jazi, Fee, Saas, Balen, and
others, which may possibly be traceable to Arabic roots.
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Poniresina, 115
chasm. This place is called PONTRESINA, which seems
to be a corruption of Ponte Saracina, the Saracens*
bridge. The village of Pontresina is composed of solid
stone houses, Spanish rather than Swiss in their appear-
ance. Five minutes' walk from the village, we come to
an ancient five-sided stone tower called SPANIOLA. In
documents of the twelfth and fourteenth centuries we
find mention of families inhabiting this valley bearing
the names De Ponte Sarisino, Sarracino, Sarazeno, and
the like. Saratz is still a very common surname in the
district, and those bearing it claim descent from the
Saracens, and possess a marked oriental type of feature.^
A Herr Saratz is now president of the Gotthaus Bund,
the Eastern division of the Grisons.
In the neighbourhood of Pontresina there are several
names apparently of Arabic origin, such as SAMADEN,
ALVENEN, ALBIGNA, TARASP, AL-VASCHEIN, MAD-UL-
EIN, and the Val ain-AS. The river which flows from
the Maloja on the Italian side is called the MAIRA.
Near the Swiss frontier a barrier of roches moutonies
blocks up this valley so completely that it has been
necessary to excavate a considerable tunnel through the
rock to admit of the passage of the road. On the sum-
mit of this admirable defensive position stands a ruined
castle, which goes by the name of Castel MURO, and an
ancient building by the side of the castle exhibits certain
Saracenic features which are in striking contrast with the
Italian architecture around.*
I Lechner, Piz Languard^ pp. 12, 13. There are also at Bergamo
families called Saratz.
* In the summer of 1862 I made diligent inquiries of the peasantry in the
neighbourhood of Castel Muro, but could discover no traditions of Saracenic
occupation resembling those which are current at Pontresina.
I 2
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1 16 The Arabs in Europe.
To the west of Pontresina is the SCALETTA pass,
which leads to the valley of the Upper Rhine. A local
tradition affirms that the Scaletta owes its name to the
bleaching skeletons of a band of marauding Moors from
Pontresina, who were defeated by the men of Chur, and
whose corpses were left strewn over the mountain side
where they fell in the attempted flight across the pass.
The encounter is supposed to have taken place at the
foot of the pass, on the western side, where there is a
pasture which still goes by the name of KRIEGSMATTEN,
the " battle field." Whether there be truth in this tradi-
tion or not,^ it testifies to the popular belief in the
existence of a Moorish colony in the valleys of the Ber-
nina, and it harmonizes well with the curious evidence
supplied by the still existing local names.*
^ More probably the Scaletta is the " Staircase" pass.
' On the subject of the Moors in Switzerland, see Engelhardt, Dcu Monte
Rosa undMatterhom Gebirg; Lechner, Piz Languard, pp. 12, 13; Reioaud,
Invasum desSarazins; Wenrich, Rerumab Arabibus gestarum Commentarii ;
Stanley, Sinai and Palcstim, p. 15.
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England is tlu land of inclosures. 117
CHAPTER VII.
THE ANGLO-SAXONS.
Englandis the land of inclosures^ — This denoted by the character of Anglo-
Saxon Names which end in ^'ton,'' ''yard^' *' worth,'* ''fold;' *' hay,''
and **bury" — Ham, the home — The Patronymic **ing" — Teutonic clans
— Saxcn colony near Boulogne — Saxon settlement in England began before
the departure of the Romans — Early Frisian settlement in Yorkshire — Litus
Saxonicum near Caen — German Tillage-names in France and in Italy —
Patronymics in Westphalia, Franconia, and Swabia — Seat of the '^ Old-
Saxons,**
England is pre-eminently the land of hedges and in-
closures. On a visit to the Continent almost the first
thing the tourist notices is the absence of the hedgerows
of England. The fields, nay even the farms, are bounded
only by a furrow. The bare shoulders of the hills offend
an eye familiar with the picturesque wooded skyline of
English landscape, the rectangular strips of cultivation
axe intolerable, and the interminable monotony of the
plains, varied only by the straight rows of formal poplars
■which stretch for miles and miles by the side of the
chatiss^e, is inexpressibly wearisome to those who have
been accustomed to quaint, irregular crofts, and tall,
straggling hedgerows, twined with clematis and honey-
suckle—
" Little lines of sportive wood run wild,"
overshadowed here and there by gnarled oaks and giant
elms.
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1 1 8 Tlie Anglo- Saxof IS,
And if we compare the local names in England with
those on the Continent, we shall find that for more than
a thousand years England has been distinctively and
pre-eminently the land of inclosures. The suffixes which
occur most frequently in Anglo-Saxon names denote an
inclosure of some kind — something hedged, walled in, or
protected. An examination of these names shows us
that the love of privacy, and the seclusiveness of character
which is so often laid to the charge of Englishmen, pre-
vailed in full force among the races which imposed names
upon our English villages,^ Those universally recurring
terminations totif ham? worth, stoke^ fold, garth, fark,
burgh, bury, brough, borrow, all convey the notion of in-
closure or protection. The prevalence of these suffixes
in English names proves also how intensely the nation
was imbued with the principle of the sacred nature of
property,^ and how eager every man was to possess some
spot which he could call his own, and guard from the
intrusion of every other man. Even among those por-
tions of the Teutonic race which remained on the Conti-
nent, we do not find that this idea of private right has
been manifested in local names to the same extent as
in England. The feeling, seems, indeed, to have been
more or less enchorial, for we find strong indications of
it even in the pure Celtic names of Britain. Probably
1 This characteristic of the Teutonic race did not escape the acute obser-
vation of Tacitus. Colunt discreti ac diversi, ut fons, ut campus, ut nemus
placuit. Vicos locant, non in nostrum morem conhexis et cohxrentibus
aedificiis : suam quisque domum spatio circumdat Germania, § i6.
* The overwhelming number of surnames derived from these local suffixes
is witnessed by the saw preserved by Verstegan : —
In Foord, in Ham, in Ley, in Tun,
The most of English surnames run.
Restitution of Decayed Intelligence, p. 326.
• See Leo, Anglo-Saxon Names, p. 71.
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The Suffix '' ton.'' 119
more than one half of the Celtic names in Wales and
Ireland contain the roots llaUy kil or bally^ all of which
originally denoted an inclosure of some kind. The
Teutonic suffixes which do not denote inclosures, such as
gaUy dorf^ kbeUy fiausen, stadty and steitiy all so numerous
in Germany, are not reproduced in England to anything
like the same extent as on the Continent. * It would
seem, therefore, that the love of inclosure is due more
or less to the Celts who were gradually absorbed among
the Saxon colonists.
The suffix ton constitutes a sort of test-word by which
we are enabled to discriminate the Anglo-Saxon settle-
ments. It is the most common termination of English
local names ; and although it is a true Teutonic word,
yet there is scarcely a single instance of its occurrence
throughout the whole of Germany.^ It appears in two
small Anglo-Saxon settlements on the French coast,^
and it is found not unfrequently in Sweden' — a fact which
may lead to the establishment of a connexion, hitherto
unsuspected, between the Anglo-Saxon colonists of
England and the tribes which peopled eastern Scandi-
navia.*
The primary meaning of the suffix ton is to be sought
in the Gothic tains^ the old Norse teimiy and the Frisian
1 We have, however, Altona, near Hamburg, and Ost- and West-tonne
in Westphalia.
' E.g, Colincthun, Alencthun, and Todincthun. See pp. 133 ; and
Appendix B.
■ E.g. Eskilstuna, Sollentuna, Wallentuna, Sigtuna, and Frotuna. See
Bender, Ortsnameriy pp. '54, 135 ; Forstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch^
vol. ii. p. 141 4; Pott, Personen-Namen^ p. 76.
* Sweden takes its name from the Suiones who peopled it. The Suiones
are probably identical with the Suevi or Swabians who, as will be shoMm,
contributed largely to the Teutonic colonization of England.
* The root is widely diflused through the Aryan languages. Compare
*^
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1 20 The A nglO'Saxons,
tincy all of which mean a twig — a radical signification
which survives in the phrase ** the tine of a fork.** We
speak also of the tines of a stag's horns. In modern
German we find the word 3<<un, a hedge, and in Anglo-
Saxon we have the verb tynan, to hedge. Hence a tun,
or ton, was a place surrounded by a hedge, or rudely
fortified by a palisade.^ Originally it meant only a
single croft, homestead, or farm, and the word retained
this restricted meaning in the time of Wicliffe. He
translates Matt. xxii. 5, " But thei dispiseden, and wenten
forth, oon into his toun (07/3^9), another to his mar-
chaundise." This usage is retained in Scotland, where a
solitary farmstead still goes by the name of the toun ; and
in Iceland, where the homestead, with its girding wall,
is called a ti^n} In many parts of England the rickyard
is called the hsirton * — ^that is, the inclosure for the dear,
or crop which the land beara There are lone farm-
houses in Kent called Shottington, Wingleton, Godington,
and Appleton. But in most cases the isolated ton be-
came the nucleus of a village, and the village grew into
a town, and, last stage of all, the word TOWN has come
to denote, not the one small croft inclosed from the
the Sclavonic tutftf a hedge, and even the Armenian iun, a house. See
Diefenbach, Verglekhatdes Worterbuch, vol. ii. pp. 653, 654 ; Monkhoase,
Etymologies y P* 13 > Kemble, Codex Diplom, vol. iii. p. xxxix. ; Leo, Angio-
Saxon Nantes, pp. 31 — 37 ; Mone, Geschichte Heidenlhums, vol. ii. p. 95.
^ The phrase ''hedging and tining/' for hedging and ditching, was
current two hundred years ago. Verstegan, Restitution^ p. 326. Brush-
wood, used for hedging, is called tinetum in law Latin. Cowel, Law
Dictionary, sub voce Tinet ; Bailey, Dictionary, sub voce Tinetum.
* Dufferin, Letters from High Latitudes, p. 46 ; Dasent, in Oxford Essays
for 1858, p. 203.
' In Iceland the bartun. There are some sixty villages in England
called Barton or Burton ; these must have originally been only outlying
rickyards.
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Names which denote inclosures. 1 2 1
forest by the Saxon settler, but the dwelling-place of a
vast population, twice as great as that which the whole
of Saxon England could boast,^
The Anglo-Saxon yard, and the Norse equivalent
garthy contain nearly the same idea as ton. Both denote
some place girded round, or guarded. The word tains,
a twig, stands in the same etymological relation to ton
as the old English word yerde^ a switch or rod, does to
yard, garth, and garden. The inclosure is named from
the nature of the surrounding fence.
The same may be said respecting stoke, another
common suffix, which we find in BASINGSTOKE and
ALVERSTOKE. A stoke is a place stockdAtA, surrounded
with stocks or piles. A somewhat similar inclosure is
denoted by the suffix fold? This was a stall or place
constructed ol felled trees, for the protection of cattle
or sheep.
The Anglo-Saxon weorthig, which appears in English
names in the form of worth, bears a meaning nearly the
same as that of ton or garth. It denotes a place warded,
or protected.* It was> probably, an inclosed homestead
^ It appears from Domesday that the population of Saxon England was
about a million and a half. Turner, Anglo-Saxons, vol. iii. p. 256.
' In old English 9^yerde means a rod. '* Yet under the yerde was the
maide." — Chaucer, Shipmannes Talf, A yard measure is a wand of a fixed
length. The yards of a ship are the poles on which the sails are extended.
Cf. the German gerie, and the Anglo-Saxon gerd. The Goths and Franks
seem to have introduced the word jardin into the French, Spanish, and
Italian languages. Of cognate origin are the Albanian gerdlne, the Servian
grhdtna, the Russian ^on»/ and^(a</, and the Persian gird, a dty or fortified
town. Diez, Etymolog, WiirUrb, p. 173; Diefenbach, Verglachendes
Wbrttrh. vol. ii. p. 376 ; Sparschuh, BerichUgungen, p. 53 ; Pictet, Orig,
IndO'Europ, part ii. p. 265.
' Anglo-Saxony2i/M/.
^ From the Anglo-Saxon warian, to ward or defend. Kemble, Codex
Dipiom, vol. iii. p. xl^ ; Leo, Anglo-Saxon Names, p. 59. A weir, which
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122 The Anglo-Saxons.
for the churls, subordinate to the tun. We find this
suffix in the names of BOSWORTH, TAMWORTH, KENIL-
WORTH, WALWORTH, WANDSWORTH, and many other
places.
A haigh, or hay^ is a place surrounded by a hedge,
and appears, to have been usually an inclosure for the
purposes of the chase. We find it in ROTHWELL
HAIGH, near Leeds ; HAVE PARK, at Knaresborough ;
and HORSEHAY, near Colebrookdale.^ The word park,
which is of kindred meaning, seems to have been
adopted by the Saxons from the Celtic parwgy an
inclosed field.*
Related to the Anglo-Saxon verb beorgany and the
German bergen, to shelter or hide,' are the suffixes bury^
wards off the waters of a river, is from the same root. Wedgwood derives
worth from the Welsh gwyrdd, green. Philolog. Proc. vol. iv. p. 260. But
more probably both gwyrdd and worth are sister words, coming from a
common Aryan source. Compare the Sanskrit wi, to protect, and the
Zend vara^ a place hedged round. Pictet, Orig. Indo-Europ. part ii. p. 80.
^ The HAGUE (correctly 's Gravenhage, the count's hedge) was origi-
nally a hunting-seat of the Orange princes. Cf. the Dutch hacLg^ an in-
closure ; the old High German hag^ a town ; the German hagen^ to hedge;
the French haie^ a hedge ; and the English ha-ha^ and A<z7<^thom, or hedge-
thorn. Haia is a term often used in Domesday. The source seems to be
the Sanskrit kakscha^ which means ** bush " and also a ** fence." See Diez,
Etym. Worterb. p. 656; Leo, Rectitudines^ p. 54; Forstemann, (htsnanun,
p. 57 ; Ellis, Introduction to Domesday ^ p. xxxvi. The suffixes hagen and
hain are common in Hesse. Vilmar, Ortsnamen^ p. 269.
* The word park is common to all the Celtic and Romance languages.
See Diez, Etym, Worterb. p. 252; Kemble, Codex Diplom, vol. iii. p. xxxv. ;
Diefenbach, Cdtica^ i. p. 167 ; and Diefenbach, Vergleickendes IVorterbuch^
vol. i. p. 265, where the etymological affinities oi park and borough are
discussed.
' Compare the phrases to burrow in the earth ; to borrow, i.e. to obtain
goods on security ; to bury, i.e, to hide in the earth; the bark of a tree is
tliat which hides or covers the tnmk. The etymology of borough may be
compared with that of the Latin oppidum^ the work. Mommsen, Hist, of
Rome^ vol. i. p. 39. ,
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TJte Suffixes " bury '* and " ham:' 1 23
borougky burghy brought and barrow. Sometimes these
words denote the funeral mound which gave shelter to
the remains of the dead, but more frequently they mean
the walled inclosure which afforded refuge to the living.
Since such walled places were often on the crests of
hills, the word came to mean a hill-fortress, correspond-
ing to the Celtic dun, Jn Anglo-Saxon a distinction
was made betweeil beorky which answers to the German
bergy a hill, and buruhy which is the equivalent of the
German burgy a town. This distinctive usage is lost in
modem English. The word Barrow} however, is gene-
rally confined to funeral mounds. Burghy and Brought
are Anglian and Norse, as are, probably, four-fifths of
the boroughs^ while bury is the distinctively Saxon
form.*
The suffix hamy which is very frequent in English
names, appears in two forms in Anglo-Saxon docu-
ments. One of these, hdm}* signifies an inclosure, that
^ E.g. Tnglebarrow.
• E.g, Jedburgh, Broughton, Brough.
' E.g. Peterborough, Scarborough, Marlborough.
*• This widely diffused Aryan root appears to have been introduced from
the Teutonic into the Romance languages. To it we may refer Burgos,
Bergamo, Cherbourg, Luxembourg, Perga, Pergamos, and scores of other
names spread over Europe and Asia. Gothic baurgs^ Greek ^pyot. Mace*
donian, fi6pyos. Even the Arabs borrowed burgy a fortress, from the Goths.
See Diefenbach, Vtrg. Wort, vol. i. pp. 262 — 265 ; Diez, Rom. Gram. vol. i.
p. 9 ; Pictet, Orig. Inda-Eur. vol. ii. p. 194 ; Kemble, Codex Diplom.
vol. iii. p. xix. ; Hartshome, Salopia AntiqtMy pp. 245 — 247 ; Sparschuh,
Bericht. pp. 40, 52.
* This is, for the most part, the source of the Frisian suffix «w, which
fringes the coast-line of Hanover and Oldenburgh. In Brunswick and
Wolfenbiittel we find Bomi^xn, YIAum^ &c. It occurrs in Holstein and part
of Sleswic, in the Danish islands Sylt and Fohr, and in the Frisian colony
in Yorkshire. See p. 138, infra. Latham, English. Lang. vol. i. pp.
125 — 130 ; Ethncl. Brit. Is. p. 182. The suffix um is sometimes only the
sign of the dative plural.
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1 24 The A ngloSaxons,
which hems in ^ — a meaning not very different from that
of ton or worth. These words express the feeling of
reverence for private right, but ham involves a notion
more mystical, more holy. It expresses the sanctity of
the family bond ; it is the HOME,^ the one secret (fle^rim)
and sacred place. In the Anglo-Saxon charters we
frequently find this suffix united with the names of
families — never with those of individuals.' This word,
as well as the feeling of which it is the symbol, was
brought across the ocean by the Teutonic colonists, and
it is the sign of the most precious of all the gifts for
which we thank them. It may indeed be said, without
exaggeration, that the universal prevalence throughout
England of names containing this word HOME, gives us
the clue to the real strength of the national character of
the Anglo-Saxons. It has been well observed that it
was this supreme reverence for the sanctities of domestic
life which gave to the Teutonic nations the power of
breathing a new life into the dead bones of Roman
civilization.*
The most important element which enters into Anglo-
Saxon names yet remains to be considered. This is
^ Several Bedfordshire villages, as Felmersham, Biddenham, and Blun-
ham, which are almost surrounded by the serpentine windings of the Ouse,
exhibit this suffix. See Monkhouse, Etymologies^ pp. 8— li.
' Cf. the German heim^ home, which enters so largely into the names of
Southern Germany. What a world of inner difference there is between the
English word honUy and the French phrase chez nous,
' Leo, Angh'Saxon Nantes^ p. 37.
* Kemble, Anglo-Saxons^ vol. i. p. 231 ; Turner, Anglo-Saxons, vol. i.
p. 189. On the suffixes hdm and ham see Kemble, Codex Diplom, voL iiL
pp. xxvii. xxviii. ; Leo, Rectitudines, pp. 30 — 33 ; Diefenbach, i^ergleick,
IVbrterb, vol. iL pp. 499 — 501 ; Pictet, Orig, Indo-Europ, part ii. pp. 290,
291. With hdm compare the Gothic haims^ the Lithuanian kaimas, and
the Greek km/ai;, a village. The ultimate root seems to be the Sanskrit f/^
to repose. Cf. icc«/ia< and Kot/xd^o.
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The patronymic " ing^ 125
the • syllable ingy It occurs in the names of a multi-
tude ^ of English villages and hamlets, often as a simple
suiBx, as in the case of BARKING, BRADING, DORKING,
HASTINGS, KETTERING, TRING, Of WOKING ; but more
frequently we find that it forms the medial syllable
of the name, as in the case of BUCKINGHAM, BIR-
MINGHAM, KENSINGTON, ISLINGTON, HADDINGTON, or
WELLINGTON.^
This syllable ing was the usual Anglo-Saxon
patronymic. Thus we read in the Saxon Chronicle
(A.D. 547):—
Ida wses Eopping,
Eoppa waes Esing,
Esa waes Inguing,
Ingui, Angenvnting.
Ida was Eoppa's son,
Eoppa was Esa's son,
Esa was Ingwy's son,
Ingwy, Angenwit's son.
* On the root ing see Forstemann, Alt-deutsches Nanunbuch, vol. ii. p. 835 ;
Forstemann, Ortsnameriy pp. 178, 204, 245; Grimm, Cesch, d, Deut. Spr.
P- 775 ; Dent. Gram, vol. ii. pp. 349 — 352 ; Kemble, Saxons in England^
voL i. pp. 56 — 63, and 445 — 480 ; Kemble, in Philolog. Proceedings^ vol. iv.
pp. 1 — 9; Guest, in ib. vol. i. p. 117; Pott, Persontn-Nanutty pp. 169,
247, 553 ; Crichton, Scandinavia^ vol. i. p. 160; Zeuss, Herkunft der Baiern,
pp. xiL xxiiL xxxv. ; Massmann, in Dorow's Denkmaler alter Sprcuhe und
Kunsty voL i. pp. 185 — 187 ; Schott, Deut. CoL p. 21 1 ; Max Miiller, Lectures
4m Language^ 2nd Series, p. 16 ; Latham, EthnoL Brit, Is, p. 241, seq. ;
lAtham, Eng, Lang. vol. i. p. Ill ; Meyer, Ortsnamen, p. 139 ; Bender,
Ortrnamen, pp. 103, 104 ; Vilmar, Ortsnamen^ pp. 264, 265 ; Buttmann,
Ortsnameny p. 2 ; Wright, Celt, Romany and Saxony pp. 43S — ^441 ; Edinburgh
RezneWy vol. cxi. pp. 374 — 376 ; Donaldson, English Ethnographyy p. 61.
■ In about one-tenth of the whole number.
s Mr. Kemble has compiled a list of 1,329 English names which contain
this root. To ascertain the completeness of the enumeration, the Ordnance
Maps of three counties — Kent, Sussex, and Essex — ^were carefully searched,
and it was discovered that Mr. Kemble had overlooked no less than forty-
seven names in Kent, thirty-eight in Sussex, and thirty-four in Essex. If
the omissions in other counties are in the same ratio, the total number of
these names would be about 2,200. Lai^e additions might also be made
from Domesday Book. The Exon and Ely Domesdays alone contain thirty-
six names not given by Mr. Kemble.
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126 The A nglo'Saxons.
In fact the suffix ing in the names of persons had very
much the same significance as the prefix Ma»c in Scot-
land, O* in Ireland, Ap in Wales, or Beni among the
Arabs. A whole clan or tribe, claiming to be descended
from a real or mythic progenitor, or a body of adven-
turers attaching themselves to the standard of some
chief, were thus distinguished by a common patronymic
or clan ^ name.
The family bond, which, as we have seen, was so
deeply reverenced by the Anglo-Saxon race, was the
ruling power which directed the Teutonic colonization
of this island. The Saxon immigration was, doubtless,
an immigration of clans. The head of the family built
or bought a ship, and embarked in it with his children,
his freedmen, and his neighbours, and established a
family colony on any shore to which the winds might
carry him.^ The subsequent Scandinavian colonization
was, on the other hand, wholly or mainly effected by
soldiers of fortune, who abandoned domestic ties at
home, and, after a few years of piracy, settled down with
the slave women whom they had carried off from the
shores of France, Spain, or Italy, or else roughly wooed
the daughters of the soil which their swords had con-
quered.^ Thus the Scandinavian adventurers Grim, Orm,
Hacon, or Asgar, left their names at GRIMSBY, ORMSBY,
HACONBY, and ASGARBY; whereas in the Saxon dis-
tricts of the Island we find the names, not of individuals,
^ It may be observed that the etymology of the word clan proves the
patriarchal nature of the Scottish clans. It is derived from the Gaelic
c/uin, children. Pictet, Orig. Indo-Europ, pt ii. p. 386 ; Newman, Regal
Rorne^ p. 49-
* See Thnipp, Anglo-Saxon Home, p. 178.
» See Thrupp, Anglo-Saxon Home, p. 319 ; St. John, Four Con^uests^
vol. i. p. 306.
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Family settlements. 127
but of clans. It is these family settlements which are
denoted by the syllable ing. Hence we perceive the value
of this word as an instrument of historical research.
In a great number of cases ^ it enables us to assign to
each of the chief German clans its precise share in
the colonization of the several portions of our island.
In investigating the local topography of England, we
constantly meet with the names of families whose deeds
are celebrated in the mythic or legendary history of the
Teutonic races.^ Thus members of a Frankish clan —
the Myrgings, or Maurings, of whom we read in the
" Traveller's Song," and who, at a later time, are familiar
to us as the Merovingian dynasty of France — seem to
have settled in England at MERRING in Nottingham-
shire, and at MERRINGTON in Durham and Shropshire.^
The family of the Harlings, whose deeds are also
chronicled in the " Traveller's Song," are met with at
HARLING, in Norfolk and in Kent, and at HARLINGTON,
in Bedfordshire and Middlesex. The families of the
1 The syllable ing has sometimes a topographic rather than a patronymic
signification. Thus, in the Chronicle and the Charters, mention is made of
the CentingB, or men of Kent, the Brytfordings, or men of Bradford, and
the Bromleagtngs, or men of Bromley. Sometimes, as Mr. Kemble and
Dr. Massmann think, the sufhx ing has simply the force of the genitive
singular. Kemble, in Philolog. Proc. vol. iv. pp. i — 9 ; Massmann, in
I>orow*s Denktndler^ vol. i. p. 1 86; Forstemann, Ortsnamen, p. 178.
Occasionally it denotes a meadow.
* The same patronymics which occur in local names were borne by
persons mentioned in ancient German charters and other documents.
Forstemann collects 270 such names from documents of the eighth, ninth,
tenth, and eleventh centuries. Alt-Deutsches Namenbuch, vol. i. p. 782.
* Miillenhoff, in Haupt*8 Zeitschrift^ vol. vi. pp. 430 — 435 ; Kemble,
Saxons, vol. i. p. 469 ; Zeuss, Herkunft der BaUm, p. xxxv. ; Latham,
English Lang, vol. i. p. 221. See Mone, Geschichte Heidenikums, vol. ii.
p. 133, for the Merovingian traditions. The Meringas are also jnentioned
in a charter. Cod. DipL No. 809.
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128 The A nglo' Saxons,
Brentings, the Scylfings ^ (a Swabian race), the Banings,
the Haelsings, the Hdcings,'* and the Scaerings, which
are all mentioned in Beowulf or in the "Traveller's
Song,"« are found at BRENTINGLEY, SHILVINGTON,
BANNINGHAM, HELSINGTON, HUCKING, WOKING, and
SHERRINGHAM ; and the Scyldings * — ^a Danish family,
to which Beowulf himself belonged — are found at
SKELDING in Yorkshire. In the Edda and in Beowulf
we read of the Waelsings,* whom we find settled at
WOLSINGHAM in Norfolk, WOOLSINGHAM in Durham,
and WOLSINGHAM in Northumberland. The Thurings,
a Visigothic clan,* mentioned by Marcellinus, Jomandes,
and Sidonius ApoUonaris, are found at THORINGTON in
Suffolk and THORRINGTON in Essex. The Silings, a
Vandal tribe, mentioned by Ptolemy, are found at
SELLING in Kent. The Icelings, the noblest family of
Mercia, are found at ICKLINGHAM in Suffolk. The
Hastings, the noblest race of the Goths, are found at
HASTINGLEIGH in Kent, and HASTINGS in Sussex.
The Ardings, the royal race of the Vandals, are found at
ARDINGTON in Berkshire, and ARDINGLEY in Sussex ;
and a branch of the royal Visigothic family is found at
BELTING in Kent The Irings, the royal family of the
Avars,^ are found at ERRINGHAM in Sussex, and at
^ MuUenhoff, in Haupt's Zeitschrift, vol. vi. p. 431.
s The Hdcings are probably the same as the Chauci of Tadtus — the
interchange of h to ch or w often takes place, as in the case of the CkaMx
and /feaae. The Wokings were probably the same as the H6cings.
Grimm, GescA. der Deut. Spr, p. 674.
' Kemble, Saxons^ vol. i. pp. 59 — 63, and 456 — 478.
* Miillenhoff, in Haupt*s Zeitschrift^ vol. vi p. 431.
' The Wadsings were probably Franks. Latham, Eng. Loftg, vol. i.
p. 226.
> Miiller, Marken^ p. 175 ; I^atham, Naiianalities, vol. ii. p. 312.
^ Piderit, Ortsfiamen, p. 311.
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The Teutonic Clans. 129
ERRINGTON in Yorkshire. The Varini, who are placed
by Tacitus in juxtaposition with the Angli, are found
at WARRINGTON in Lancashire and Bucks, and at
WERRINGTON in Devon and Northamptonshire. The
Billings, who were the royal race of the Varini,^ seem,
as might have been anticipated, to have profited exten-
sively by the conquest of England, for we find their
name in no less than thirteen places, as BILLINGE,
BILLINGHAM, BILLINGLEY, BILLINGTON, and BILLINGS-
HURST. The iEscings, the royal race of Kent, are likewise
found in thirteen* places. Some families seem to have
spread much more widely than others. Of many only an
isolated local name bears witness, some are confined to a
single county, while the names of others, as the iEscings
and the Billings, are spread far and wide throughout the
island.^
Where the patronymic stands without any suffix, as in
the case of malling, basing, or Hastings, Mr. Kemble
thinks that we have the original settlement of the clan,
and that the names to which the suffixes ham or ton are
^ Lappenberg, Anglo-Saxon Kings y vol. i. p. 213. In the earliest
records, however, the Billings are mythological rather than historical.
The first undoubtedly historical Billing died in the year 967. The root bil
signifies gentleness.. Billich is Equity personified. Cf. the modem German
billigj cheap. The name Billingsgate may perhaps be thus explained.
Grimm, Deut Mythol. p. 347.
■ The Cyllings and the Wealings are found in twelve places; the
Dodings, the Wittings, and the Willings, in eleven ; the Ofings in ten ; the
Donings and the SiUings in nme ; the Edings, the Ellings, the Hardings,
and the Lings in eight; the Fearings, the Hemings, the Herrings, the
Holings, the Homings, the Newings, the Serings, and the Wasings in
seven; the Cannings, the Cerrings, the Hastings, the Lullings, the
Hannings, the Stannings, the Teddings, the Tarings, and the Withings, in
six; the Bennings, the Bings, the Bobbings, the Caedings, the Collings,
the Gillings, and the Stellings, in five, and the remaining 400 or 500
patronymics in four or a smaller number of places.
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1 30 TJie A ngloSaxofts.
applied mark the filial colonies sent out from this parent
settlement. This theory is not, perhaps, altogether
carried out by a study of the names, but it certainly
derives considerable support from the way in which
these patronymics are distributed throughout the Eng-
lish counties. By a reference to the subjoined table, it
will be seen that the names of the former class are
chiefly to be found in the south-eastern districts of the
island, where the earliest Teutonic settlements were
formed, namely, in Kent, Sussex, Essex, Middlesex,
Norfolk, Suffolk, and the adjacent counties, and that
they gradually diminish in frequency as we proceed
towards the northern and western counties. Still farther
to the west, as in Gloucestershire and Warwickshire, the
names of the former class are very rare ; those of the
second abound. In the semi-Celtic districts of Derby-
shire, Devonshire, and Lancashire names of either class
become scarce, while in Cumberland, Westmoreland,
Cornwall, and Monmouth they are wholly or almost
wholly wanting. On Mr. Kemble's hypothesis this re-
markable distribution of these names would accord with
the supposition that the Saxon rule was gradually
extended over the western and central districts by the
cadets of families already settled in the island, and not
by fresh immigrants arriving from abroad.
From the lists given by Mr. Kemble the following
table has been compiled, so as to represent the propor-
tion of names of these two classes to the acreage of the
several counties. The absolute numbers are not given,
since the varying sizes of the counties would vitiate the
results : —
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Orig inal and filial settlements.
131
^^^^ Filial
Kent
Sussex
Middlesex . . . .
Essex
Norfolk
Suffolk
Bedfordshire . . .
Huntingdonshire .
Berkshire
Surrey
Hertfordshire. . .
Northamptonshire
Oxfordshire. . . .
Nottinghamshire .
Hampshire ....
Lincolnshire . . .
Cambridgeshire. .
Yorkshire ....
Dorsetshire. . . .
Lancashire ....
Settle
22
21
18
18
15
13
12
II
9
9
6
5
4
4
4
3
3
3
3
3
Colonies'
29
41
38
24
46
36
51
46
29
22
14
41
51
31
23
34
29
26
25
16
Derbyshire . . .
Gloucestershire .
Northumberland
Leicestershire .
Buckinghamshire
Warwickshire .
Somerset . .
Salop. . . .
Wiltehire. .
Devonshire .
Rutland. . .
Cheshire . .
Worcestershire
Herefordshire
Staffordshire .
Durham . . .
Cumberland .
Westmoreland
Cornwall . . .
Monmouth . .
Original
Settle-
ments.
Filial
Colonies
3
2
2
2
2
I
I
I
I
\
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
15
46
32
29
28
44
35
33
23
12
36
31
24
23
22
21
5
3
2
o
For the preceding results no great amount of novelty
can be claimed, since they are based mainly on the re-
searches of Mr. Kemble, and of Professor Leo of Halle.
But, having occasion, for another purpose, to make a
minute examination of the .sheets of the large Govern-
ment survey of France, I was startled by a remarkable
phenomenon, which, so far as I can ascertain, seems
hitherto to have escaped the notice which it deserves
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132
The Anglo-Saxons,
In the old French provinces of Picardy and Artois,
there is a small well-defined district, about the size of
Middlesex, lying between Calais, Boulogne, and St Omer,
and fronting the English coast, in which the name of
almost every village and hamlet is of the pure Anglo-
Saxon type ; and not only so, but the names are, most
of them, identically the same with village-names to be
found in England. To exhibit graphically the distribu-
tion of these Saxon villages the accompanying sketch-
map has been constructed. Each dot represents the
position of one of the Saxon names.
SAXON NAMBS IN PICARDY AND ARTOIS.
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The Saxon Colony near Boulogne, 133
Thus we have in the
Freruh District Corresponding English Namet.
Wariiem V^zxhsan, Norfolk.
Rattekot Kadcot, Oxon.
Le Wast Wast, Gloucesttrskirey Northumberland,
Frethun Freton, Norfolk.
Cohen, Cuhem, and Cuhen. Cougham, Norfolk.
Hollebeque Holbeck, Notts. ^ Yorks,^ Lincoln.
Ham, Hame, Hames . . Ham, Kent^ Surrey^ Essex, Somerset.
Werwick Warwick, Warwick^ Cumberland.
Appegarbe Applegarth, Dumfries,
Sangatte Sandgate, Kent.
Guindal Windle, Lancashire.
Intern Ingham, Lincoln^ Norfolk^ Middlesex.
Oye Eye, Suffolk, Hereford^ Northmptonsh,, Oxon,
Wimffle* Windmill, A'^.
Grisendale Grisdale, Cumberland, Lancashire.
We have also such familiar English forms as Gray-
wick, the River Slack, Bruquedal, Marbecq, Longfosse,
Dalle, Vendal, Salperwick, Fordebecques, Staple, Cre-
hem, Pihem, Dohem, Roqueton, Hazelbrouck, and Roe-
beck. Twenty-two of the names have the characteristic
suffix 'ton, which is scarcely to be found elsewhere upon
the Continent,^ and upwards of one hundred end in ham,
heniy or hen. There are also more than one hundred
patronymics ending in ing. A comparison of these
patronymics with those found in England proves, be-
yond a doubt, that the colonization of this part of
France must have been effected by men bearing the
clan-names which belonged to the Teutonic families
which settled on the opposite coast.^ More than eighty
1 Sankey, Portefeuille, p. 53, refers this very remarkable name to the
time of the occupation of Boulogne by the English in the sixteenth century.
I cannot doubt that it is an evidence of a much earlier connexion.
• • Seep. ii9» Jw/rtf.
' A few phonetic changes are worthy of notice. We find ham once or
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1 34 The A nglo- Saxons.
per cent, of these French patronymics are also found in
England.
Thus we have
In France, In England,
Alencthun Allington, Kent.
Bazingham Bassingham, Line.
Balinghem Ballingham, Hereford.
Berlinghen Birlingham, Worcester.
Colincthun CoUington, Sussex,
Elingehen Ellingham, Hants.
Eringhem Erringham, Sussex.
Hardinghem Hardingham, Norfolk.
Linghem . Lingham, Cheshire.
Lozinghem Lossingham, Kent.
Maninghem Manningham, Yorks.
Masinghen Massingham, Norfolk,
Pelincthun Pallington, Dorset.
Todincthun Toddington, Bedford,
Vdinghen Wellingham, Norfolk,
A more detailed comparison of these patronymics will
be found in the appendix,^ and to this the attention of
the student is specially requested. It is confidently be-
lieved that such a comparison will render it impossible
not to admit that the same families which gave their
names to our English villages must have also made a
settlement on that part of the French coast which lies
within sight of the English shore.
The question now arises whether the Saxons, as they
coasted along from the mouths of the Rhine, made the
twice close to the coast — the usual form, however, is hem — and further
inland it changes to hen ; while tng is sometimes changed into eng or w«r,
SLndgay intogue. The suffix ^^ which we find in Framlingay, Gamlingay,
&c. is found abundantly in those parts of Germany from whence the
Saxons emigrated. It there takes the form guu. This word originally-
denoted a forest clearing, hence aflerwards it came to mean the primary
settlement with independent jurisdiction, like the Cymric tre/l Palgrave,
English Commonwealth, vol. i. p. 88; Forstemann, Ortsnametiy p. 63.
1 Appendix B.
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Litus Saxonicum, 135
Boulogne colony a sort of halting-place or stepping-
stone on their way to England, or whether the French
settlement was effected by cadets belonging to families
which had already established themselves in this island.
In favoyr of the latter view we may adduce the entire
absence of Saxon names from that part of the coast
which lies to the north-east of Cape Grisnez. Why
should the intending settlers have passed along this
stretch of coast, and have left it entirely untouched ?
The map^ shows conclusively that the colonists did not
arrive from the east, but from the west — the Saxon names
radiate, so to speak, from that part of the coast which
fronts England. And the names are arranged exactly
as they would have been if the invaders had set sail from
Hythe for the cliffs on the horizon. The district about
St. Omer was evidently colonized by men who landed,
not in the neighbourhood of Dunkerque, but in the neigh-
bourhood of Boulogne.* Again, if any importance is to
be attached to Mr. Kemble's theory of original and filial
settlements,* the Saxon villages in France must all have
h^^n filial settlements. We find that ing is never a mere
suffix ; in every case it forms the medial syllable of the
name.
On the other hand, it may be said that these names
mark the position of the " Litus Saxonicum in Belgica
Secunda " — the coast settlement of the Saxons in Flan-
ders,— ^which is mentioned in the Notitia Imperii. This
Litus Saxonicum existed as early as the third century.
^ See p. 132, supra,
* As if to preclude all doubt, at some distance inland, on the northern
border of ^e Saxon colony, we find the village of Marck, a name which
always indicated an ethnological frontier. See Chapter X.
' Sec p. 130, supra.
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136 The A nglo' Saxons,
and therefore, it may be ui^ed, its foundation must have
been long anterior in date to the Saxon colonization of
Britain, which, according to the chroniclers, commenced in
the fifth century, with the arrival of Hengist and Horsa.
Eutropius informs us that the Emperors Diocletian and
Maximian appointed Carausius, *' apud Bononiam,"
(Boulogne) to protect the Flemish coast and the adjoin-
ing sea, " quod Saxones infestabant." Carausius was a
Menapian, that is, a native of the islands near the mouth
of the Rhine.^ He was probably one of those pirates
whose incursions he was appointed to suppress. Carau-
sius, it would seem, entered into a compact with his
Saxon kinsmen, and promoted their settlement, as sub-
sidized naval colonists, in the neighbourhood of his for-
tress at Boulogne.^
It may be said, in reply, that the date ordinarily as-
signed for the commencement of the Saxon colonization
of Britain is too late by at least a couple of centuries.
Even in the time of Agricola the Saxon piracy had
begun.* In the south-east of England a Saxon immigra-
tion seems to have been going on in silence during the
period of the Roman rule.* Without supposing, as some
^ Palgrave, Englisk Commorrwealth^ vol. i. p. 375.
* LAppenberg, England under the Anglo-Saxon Kings^ vol. i. pp.
44 — 47 ; Zeuss, Die Deutschen, pp. 381, 384 ; Gough*s Camden^ vol. L
p. 308; Leo, Vorlesungen, voL i. p. 267; Turner, Anglo-Saxons^ vol. i.
p. 145 ; Depping, Expiditions Maritimes^ voL i. p. 84 ; Wamkonig,
Flandriscke Staatsgeschichte^ vol. i. p. 91.
' Poste, Britannic Researches^ p. 20.
* Haigh, Conquest of Britain^ pp. i6i — 166. The Roman Legions
stationed in Britain were composed mainly of Germans. This must have
introduced a considerable German element into the population. Leo,
Vorlesungen, vol. i. p. 268; Wright, "On the Ethnology of South
Britain at the extinction of the Roman Government." Essays^ voL i. pp.
70, 71-
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Date of First Teutonic Settlement in England, 137
inquirers have done, that the Belgae, whom Caesar found
in Britain, were Low Germans in blood and speech, we
may suppose that, after the extermination of the Iceni,
the desolated lands of Eastern Britain were occupied
by German colonists. In Essex and Suffolk there is
a smaller proportion of Celtic names than in any other
district of the island, and this would indicate that the
Germanization of those counties is of very ancient date.
Gildas, Nennius, and Beda, among all their lamentations
over the "destruction of Britain" by the Jutish and
Saxon invaders, are strangely silent as to any settlements
on the eastern coast, where, from gec^raphical considera-
tions, we might have expected that the first brunt of
invasion would be felt While we can trace the progress
of the Saxons in the western and central districts of
England, with respect to the east both the British bards
and the Saxon chroniclers are dumb. They tell us of no
conquests, no defeats.^ Descents had, however, been
made, for we learn from Ammianus Marcellinus that,
nearly a century before the date assigned by Beda for
the landing of Hengist and Hprsa, London was taken by
Saxon invaders, who slew the Duke of Britain and the
Count of the Saxon shore.
This name alone might suffice to set the question at
rest. Even before the time of Constantine, there was in
England, as well as in Flanders, a Litus Saxonicum, or
Saxon coast settlement, which extended from Brancaster
in Norfolk as far as Shoreham in Sussex.* The Roman
names of the places in this district seem in some cases
* Palgrave, English Commonwealthf vol. i. p. 413.
* Grimm, Gach. d. Deut, Spr. p. 625 ; Palgrave, English Common-
wealth, vol. i. pp. 389, 412 ; St. John, Four Conquests, vol. i. p. 44 ;
Latham, Ethnology 0/ Brit, Is, p. 199; Donaldson, English Ethnog,
p. 45.
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138 The A nglo- Saxofis.
to be referable to Teutonic rather than Celtic roots. The
modern name of RECULVERS probably approximates
very closely to the original word which was Latinized
into Regulbium, and it suggests the settlement of a
Teuton named Raculf.^ The name of DOVER,* Latinized
into Dubris, reminds us of DOUVRES in the Saxon shore
near Bayeux, and of DOVERCOURT in the intensely Teu-
tonized district near Harwich, as well as of the Dovre-
fjeld in Norway, and THANET, also a Teutonic name,
appears in the pages of Solinus, an author certainly not
later than the fourth century.
There are several concurrent indications that the dis-
trict of Holderness was occupied by Teutonic settlers
before the close of the Roman rule. Holderness is a
fertile tract of some 250 square miles, bounded on the
north, east, and south by the sea and the Humber, and
on the west by the Wolds, which were probably a
frontier of wooded and impenetrable hills.' In this dis-
trict Ptolemy places a people whom he calls the Uaplaoi,
Grimm has shown that the old German/ is interchange-
able in Latin with / the aspirated form of the same
letter.* This would lead us to identify the Hapiaoi with
the F-risii or Frisians.^ In the same district Ptolemy
^ The name of the British usurper, Tetricus, whose date is about 270
A.D. appears to be only the German name Dietrich in a Latinized form.
Haigh, Conquest of Britain^ p. 162.
' The root may be the Anglo-Saxon Q/Sr, shore, with a preposition, or
the definite article prefixed. The usual derivation is from the Celtic dujr^
water. Gliick, Kelt. Namen^ p. 35 ; Zeuss, Die Deuiscken^ p. 575.
' The name Holderness means a wooded promontory. The Wolds axe
" the woods." Cf. the German wold,
< Gesch. d. Deut, Spr. p. 394.
0 The Frisian form of ham is um. See p. 123, supra. Holderness is
the only part of England where this form occurs. Here we find the
village names Aig-am^ "SeyrS'Om, HoU-jrm, Arr-a^i, "Rys-om Garth, axid
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Frisian Settlement in Yorkshire. 139
places PETUARIA, a name which cannot be explained from
Celtic sources, but which points undoubtedly to the
German root w(ere — inhabitants, which appears in Cant-
ware, Wihtware, and so many other names.^ Nor is this
all, for Ptolemy gives us a third name in the district of
Holdemess, Gabrantoz'iirorum Sinus, which must be
either Filey Bay or Bridlington Bay. Now this word
contains the root vie, which was the appellation of a bay
in the language of the vikings or Bay-men who, at a
later period, descended in such numbers from the Frisian
region.*
There seems therefore to be good ground for assign-
ing for the commencement of the Saxon settlements in
Britain a date anterior to the time of Carausius,' and we
may believe that the Saxon settlement in Flanders may
be partly due to the energetic measures by which
he compelled or induced the Saxon pirates, who were
establishing themselves on the British coast, to seek a
new home beyond the channel.
There was also a third Litus Saxonicum, in the neigh-
bourhood of Caen, and which extended as far as the
islands at the mouth of the Loire,* where the population
^rame, as well as Owstwick, another Frisian form. The village of
FRiSMERSK is HOW Washed away. Poulson, Hist, of Holderness, vol. ii.
p. 5^8.
1 See p. 68, mpra. Ptolemy also gives us a Vand-«ar-ia, near the wall,
apparency a settlement of some tribe of Vandals or Wends.
• Cf. Wright, " On the reihains of a primitive people in the south-east or
Yorkshire." Essays^ vol. i. p. I ; Latham, English Lang, vol. i. pp. 5, 6;
Poulson, Hist, of Holdemess, vol. i. pp. 4 — 9.
' The date usually assigned to the landing of Hengist and Horsa is 449
A.D. The Saxons took London in 367. Carausius was appointed in
287. The latest writer on the subject places the commencement of the
Saxon colonization " three or four centuries " before 449. Thrupp, Anglo-
Saxon Homey p. 4.
♦ Zeuss, Die DetUschen, p. 386 ; Lappenberg, Anglo-Saxon Kings, vol. i.
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1 40 The A nglO'Saxons,
still retains the distinctive outward marks of Saxon
blood.^ The Swabian Usti who, as we learn from the
Notitia, were settled at Bajoccas (Bayeux) may have
formed the nucleus of this settlement In the year 843
the annalists mention the existence of a district in this
neighbourhood called Otlinga^ Saxonica, and Gregory of
Tours speaks of the Saxones bajocsissini. This Saxon
settlement dates from the third century, and its forma-
tion was probably contemporaneous with that of the
colony in Picardy. By the aid of local names we can
still trace its sharply defined boundaries.^ It will be
seen that in the departments of the Eure and of the
Seine Inf^rieure, where the Danish names of a later
period are so thickly clustered, hardly a single Saxon
name is to be found, while in the department of the Cal-
vados, and in the central portion of La Manche, where
the Danish names are comparatively scarce, their place
is occupied by names of the Saxon type. The North-
men seem to have respected the tenure of their Teutonic
kinsmen, and to have dispossessed only the Celtic tribes
who dwelt to the east and north-west of the Saxon
colony. The artificial landscape in this Saxon district is
pp. 44, 46; Anglo-Norman Kings^ P- ^3 » Latham, Channel Is.p, 313;
EthnoL Brit, Is. p. 197; Nationalities of Europe^ vol. ii. pp. 21, 292;
Depping, Expeditions Maritimes, voL i. pp. 84, 8$ ; Petersen, Reckerchts^
p. 44-
1 Louth, Wanderer in Western France^ p. 292.
' This phrase, which has elicited so many ingenious etymological guesses,
does not mean the district where the Saxon language was spoken, but, as
Grimm has suggested, it was the abode of Saxon nobles, AdoHngs or
yEthelings,— Gesch, der Detit, Sprack, p. 626. See Donaldson, Engiisk
Ethnog, p. 45; Depping, ExpSditions^ vol. i. p. 85; and compare the
name of Athelney, which in the Saxon Chronicle (A.D. 878) is written
jEtkdinga-igge^ the isle of the iSthelings.
' See the coloured map, and the sketch map of Normandy in the next
chapter.
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Saxon Settlement near Caen. 141
of a thoroughly English type. The sketcher might
imagine himself in Devonshire or Kent. The country is
divided by thick hedgerows into small irregular crofts,
and the cottages are unmistakably English rather than
French in structure and appearance.^
In this neighbourhood we find the village names of
SASSETOT (Saxons'-field), hermanville, etreham, or
OUISTREHAM* (Westerham), HAMBYE,^ LE HAM, LE
hamelet, cottun (cows' yard), etainhus, heu-
LAND (highland), PLUMETOT (Blomfield or Flowerfield),
DOUVRES, on " the shore," which reminds us of our own
Dover, and CAEN, which was anciently written Cathem
and Catheim.* There are also about thirty Saxon pa-
tronymics. It is curious to observe in how many cases
we find the same families on the opposite coast of Hants,
Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall. In the whole of Cornwall
there are only two patronymic names, and both of these
are also found among the thirty on the opposite coast.
We have the
Families of the Near Bayeux at In England at
p. . ^ /Berengeville J Berrington, Dur. Glouc,
^"™^ (Berigny } Salop, Worcester,
Beltings Bellengreville Bellinger, Hants.
Basings Bazenville Basing, Hants,
Bobbings Baubigny Bobbing, Kent,
Callings Caligny Callington, Cornwall.
^^^ ^^^y l^h^JS.n'I'i^/"-
^ These two characteristic features of Saxon colonization are also to be
noted in the Litus Saxonicum near Boxilogne.
' La Roquette, Noms en Normandie, p. 56.
' This mongrel growth is apparently a Danish graft on a Saxon stock.
4 La Roquette, Noms en Normandie, P- 53 J Chamock, Local Etym. p.
53. Cat is perhaps a corruption of Goth or Geat, or it may be the proper
name Geit.
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142 The A nglO'Saxons.
Families of the NearBayeux at In England at
Cofings Cavigny Covington, Huntingdon,
C-rdings Cartigny j ^^^^^f,^!
Grsefings Gravigny Grayingham, Line.
Hardings Hardinvast Hardenhuish, Wilts,
Ifings Juvigny Jevington, Sussex,
Essings Isigny Issington, Hants,
Mserings Marigny Marrington, Salop,
Potings Potigny Podington, Dorset,
Seafings Savigny Sevington, Kent,
Sulings Soulangy SuUington, Sussex,
Dhyrings Thorigny ^ Torrington, Devon,
Local names are of great value when we attempt to
estimate the amount and the distribution of the Teutonic
element in the population of France. Any historical
notices which might aid us are very vague, and the
philological analysis of the modem French vocabulary ^
would give a most inadequate notion of the actual num-
bers of the Frank and Burgundian colonists. In fact,
the local names enable us to prove that certain parts of
modern France are as thoroughly Teutonic in blood as
any portion of our own island.
The Germanization of France commenced with settle-
1 The Gothic igg becomes ing in the Teutonic, and ign in the Romance
languages. Grimm, Gach, Deut. Spr, p. 775.
* Not more than five hundred words were introduced into the French lan-
guage by the German conquerors. Diez, Gram, d, Rom, Spr. vol. i. p. 52,
Most of them are names of weapons and military terms, such as gonfanon^
massacre from mettger, a butcher, bivouac from berwacht^ and guerre^ from
werray war. lb. p. 55 ; Max Miiller, Lectures, 2nd series, p. 263 ; Perticari ;
and Milman, Hist, Latin Christianity, vol. vi. p. 332. The other words
are chiefly the names of articles of dress, of beasts of the chase, and terms
belonging to the feudal system. Diez, Gram. p. 56; Lewis, Romance
Languages, p. 270. To these must be added the points of the compass,
nord^ sudy est, ouest. The fact that in these cases the Teutonic terms should
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Gennanization of France, 143
ments of subsidized colonists, Ustiy who were introduced
by the Roman rulers to defend the frontier. According
to the Notitia there were Batavian IcbH at Arras. The
Emperor Julian transported thousands of the Chattuarii,
Chamavi, and Frisii, to the neighbourhood of Amiens,
Beauvais, and Langres.* The system was continued at
a later period. Charlemagne transported into France a
vast multitude of Saxons — multitudinem Saxonorum
cum mulieribus et infantibus.' After another Saxon
conquest he transplanted every third man — tertium
hominem — of the vanquished people.* Many of the
German names in France may be due to these forced
emigrations,* but by far the greater number are, no
doubt, records of the settlements of the Frank and Bur-
have displaced their Romance equivalents is a striking indication of the
more mobile habits of the German tribes as contrasted with the stationary
life of the Celto-Latin inhabitants. Lewis, Romance Lang. p. 267. The
radical meaning of the word west is perhaps the vast, the vastitudo, or great
unknown region lying before the conquerors as they advanced from the east.
See Pictet, Orig. Indo-Europ. part i. p. 112; Miiller, Marken des Vaterl.
p. 209. The Romance words introduced into the Teutonic languages
are chiefly ecclesiastical, a fact which, connected with the nature of
the terms conversely introduced into the Romance languages, suggests
carious speculations as to the reciprocal influence of the rude conquerors
and their more civilized subjects. See Diez, Gram. d. Rom, Spr. vol. i.
p. 58L German was spoken in France more or less for some 400 years
after the Teutonic conquest So late as the year 812, a. D. the Council of
Tours ordained that every bishop should be able to preach both in the
Romance and Teutonic languages. Diez, Gram, d, Rom, Spr, vol. L p. 48 ;
Milman, Hist. Latin Christianity, vol. vi. p. 341.
^ Probably a Latinization of the German word IBeiite, people. The
lathes of Kent are probably a vestige of the Isetic organization.
' Latham, Channetlslands, p. 343'; Nationalities of EuropeyWoL ii. p. 294.
• Annal. Laureshamenses, apud Pertz, Mon, Germ, voL L p. 38 ; Wam-
konig, Flandrische StcMtsgeschichte, vol. i. p. 92.
* Annal. Laur, Minores^ apud Pertz, vol. i. pp. 1 19, 120.
» Guilmot, quoted by Wamkonig, Flandrische Staatsgesch, voL i. p. 92,
believes all the Flemish patronymics to be due to this cause.
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1 44 The A nglo-S axons.
gundian conquerors. The area and intensity of this
German colonization may conveniently be traced by
means of the patronymic village-names, of which there
are more than iioo in France.^
About 250, or nearly one-fourth, of these clan-names
are also to be found in England — the proportional num-
ber of identifications being far smaller than in the case
of the Litus Saxonicum in Picardy.
Thus we have the
Families of the In France at In England at
^binfis . . . j ^^f:n,.c<^uT^L 8!; I ^^^^ ^a^-
iEcings . . . Acquing, Isle of France .... Oakington, Camb,
w,|. ( AUiijny, Burgundy | AUington, Dev, Hants.
flings I ^yj*g^^ Burgu^y i KM
Antings . . . Antigny, Burgundy ^ Poitou (2) Antingham, Norf
Arrings . . . Arrigny, Champagne Arrington, Camb,
Baelings . . . Balagny, Isle of France .... Ballingdon, Essex.
^^ ■ ■ •{ISlilf/r/:;?^,;;,: : :} Basing, mn^.
Beadings. . . Bettigny, Champagne Beddingham, Sussex.
B^iHngs . . ■S^^TaSZ'""'': : : : ^y^^^^nanu.
Bessings . . . Bissines, Limousin Bessinghanii Norf.
Billings . . . Billanges, Limousin Billing, Northumb,
Bings .... Binges, Burgundy. Bing, Suff.
Jobbings . -S^^^^yl^Z;. : : : : | Bobbing, AVn.. '
Bomngs . . •S^X^:;'^::^::^ \ — -jBoHington. Es...
Bondings. . . Bontigny, Lorraine Bondington, Somers.
Brantings . . Brantigny, Champagne .... Brantingham, Yorks.
The map will give an approximate idea of the
distribution of these names.
^ See Appendix B.
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German Village-N antes in France,
I4S
They cluster most thickly in the old province of
Lorraine, where, especially in the departments of the
GSXMAN PATRONYMIC VILLAGE NAMBS IN FRAVCB.
The towns indicated by initials are Amiens, Caen, Rouen, Paris, Rheims^
Treves, Chalons, Troyes, Dijon, Strasbourg, and Ma9on. The shaded
district (Alsace) is full of names of the pure German type, few of which,
however, are patronymic.
Meurthe and the Moselle, almost every village name
bears witness to the extensive colonization effected by
the Prankish conquerors. The Isle of France, especially
the department of the Aisne, the Upper Valley of the
Lx>ire above Orleans, and the provinces of Franche-
Comt6 and Burgundy, present numerous names of the
patronymic class.
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146 The A nglo-Saxons.
It is difficult to account for these resemblances on the
ordinary theory that England was colonized exclusively
by the Saxons and Angles, and France by the Franks
and Burgundians. .A large number of Frank adven-
turers must have joined in the descents which the
Saxons made on the English coast :^ and many Saxons
must have found a place in the ranks of the Frankish
armies which conquered North-eastern France. The
chroniclers, when mentioning the earlier invasions and
piratical attacks, attribute them to Franks and Saxons,'
or to Saxons and Lombards in conjunction. The tribes
between the Rhine and the Elbe — Franks, Saxons,
Angles, Sueves, Lombards, and Burgundians — were
probably united by a much closer connexion — ethno-
logical, geographical, and political — than historians have
hitherto been willing to admit. At all events, the speech
of all these invading tribes must have been mutually
intelligible.^ Indeed, there seems to be strong reason
for believing that the names of Frank, Saxon, or Lom-
bard are not true ethnic names, but that they were only
the designations of temporary confederations for military
purposes,* an hypothesis which would be almost reduced
to a demonstration if we could succeed in establishing
1 Dr. Latham thinks that Kent was largely colonized by Franks. English
Language^ vol. i p. 1 78. Ammianus Marcellinus places Alemanni in Britain.
Lappenberg believes that the Saxons were accompanied by lai^ge numbers
of Franks, Frisians, and Lombards. The Welshman Llywarc Hen uses
Frank as an equivalent for Saxon.
' Eutropius, Julian, and Ammianus Marcellinus associate the Franks and
Saxons in this manner.
• Diez, Gram, d. Rom, Spr. vol. i. p, 46 ; Marsh, History of Eng, Lang.
p. 55 ; Poste, British Researches^ p. 74 ; Donaldson, English Ethnog,
p. 61.
* See Zeuss, Die Deutschen, pp. 326, 380—384; Sheppard, Fall 0/ Rome,
p. 130.
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Saxon and Lombard Names in Italy. 147
that plausible etymology of these names which makes
them descriptive terms relating to the equipment of the
invading hosts — ^whether armed with javelin (franca),
sword (seax)y or partisan (lang-barta)} This hypothesis,
which I was first inclined to reject somewhat cavalierly,
has commended itself more and more to my judgment
during the progress of a laborious comparison of the
village names of France, Germany, Italy, and England.
Little need be said about the German names in
Northern Italy. Paulus Diaconus and Gregory of
Tours assert that the conquest was effected by Saxons
and Lombards. We find the names of the early Lom-
bard kings are of a pure Anglo-Saxon type. Thus
Audouin and Alboin are, no doubt, the same names as
Edwin and Elfwine.* My friend, Mr. G. P. Marsh, the
United States Minister at Turin, has kindly pointed out
to me several clusters of Saxon patronymics in Northern
Italy. One of these is to be found on the Southern side
of the Po, opposite the mouth of the Dora Baltea, where
we have the villages of VARENGO, ODALENGO, TON-
ENGO, GONENGO, and SCALENGHE. Near Biella there
is another cluster of these names — VALDENGO, AR-
BENGO, BOLENGO, and TERNENGO. Near Milan we find
MARENGO and MORENGO ; and near Brescia — BOVENGO
and PISOGNE.^ In the villages of RONCEGNO and
TORCEGNO, in the Valle Sugana, German is still
spoken.*
' See p. 82, supra.
' Latham, Nationalities of Europey vol. ii. p. 246.
' Compare the English village-names of Warrington, Athelney (p. 140),
Donnington, Connington, Skillington, Waldingfield, Erpingham, Boling-
broke, Thaming, Marrington, Bovington, Bessingham, Rockingham, and
Torkington.
* Latham, Nationalities 0/ Europe, vol. ii. p. 283; Schmdler, Ueber die
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148 The A nglo'Saxons,
I have not succeeded in discovering any undoubtedly
Teutonic names in Spain, with the notable exception
of BURGOS.^ Such, however, doubtless exist within
the confines of the kingdom of the Swabian conquerors,
which comprised Galicia, the Asturias, and part of
Portugal.2
It has been generally assumed that the original home
of the Saxons is to be sought in the modern kingdom
of Hanover, between the mouths of the Elbe and the
Weser. I have made a careful search in this region for
names identical or analogous with those which are found
in Saxon England. In Westphalia a small group of
patronymics was discovered.^ But on the whole the
investigation was remarkably barren of results; the
names, for the most part, proving to be of an alto-
gether dissimilar type.* The search was continued over
Mecklenburg, Holstein,^ Friesland, and the greater part
of Germany. A few sporadic names were found, but
always surrounded and outnumbered by names possess-
ing no distinctive Anglo-Saxon character. There is,
however, in a most unlikely comer of the Continent, a
sogenannten Cimbem^ p. 561. The Lombard German was commonly
spoken in NorUiem Italy, till the year 800 A. D. Diez, Gram, d, Rom. Spr,
voL i. p. 48.
1 And, possibly, CoUnnga and Meville, both within the limits of the
Swabian kingdom.
' See Grimm, Gesch, d, Detit Spr. p. 501 ; Keferstein, Anskhteny vol. ii.
p. 313: Zeuss, Die Deutschen^ p. 456.
' See Appendix B.
* Names in wick and wich^ so common in England, are foand on the
Continent only in the Netherlands, Friesland, and old Saxony. Lappen-
beig, Anglo-Saxon Kings^ voL i. p. 86. The horsts which abound in Kent
and Sussex, are found also on the Weser in Westphalia.
* Some curious coincidences between the local names in Kent and in
Jutland have been pointed out by Maack, in the Gtrmania, vol iv. pp,
396—398.
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Franconia and Swabia, 149
well-defined district, rather larger than Devonshire, where
the names, though slightly disguised in form, are as
characteristically Saxon as those found in the Boulogne
Colony. This district is confined chiefly to the Valley
of the Neckar, but just crosses the watershed between
the Neckar and the Danube. It occupies the Northern
half of the modern kingdom of Wiirtemberg, and in-
cludes a small portion of Bavaria in the neighbourhood
of Donauwerth. It also stretches into the State of
Baden, between Heidelberg and Bruchsal. It does not
extend to the left bank of the Rhine, or to the right
bank of the Lower Neckar. In Wiirtemberg, however,
it occupies both banks of the Neckar. The railway from
Bruchsal to Ulm, with its serpentine windings and fear-
ful gradients, carries the tourist through the centre of this
district — ^which has attractions for the artist and the
angler, as well as for the ethnologist^
This district comprehends the Southern portion of
what was known in mediaeval times as FRANKEN, or
Franconia, and the northern part of swabia, or Schwa-
benland.^ Etymologically and historically, Franconia
is the land of the Franks, and Schwabenland is the
land of the Suevi, just as England is the land of the
Angles. Tacitus locates the Suevi near the Angles ; and
' There are many points of analogy between this part of Germany and
England. It is the hop garden and brewery of the Continent. It was in
the midst of this district that I met with the only case of downright English
beery drunkenness that it has been my lot to encounter during many rambles
on the Continent The people are the only Protestants in South Germany,
and they are distinguished by the English love of field sports. It may be
carious to note that the battles of Blenheim and Dettingen were fought on
the borders of this Saxon district, and that of Agincourt on the borders of
the Boulogne colony.
• On the close connexion of the Franks and Suevi, see Zeuss, Die
Deutschen, pp. 328, 338.
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1 50 The A nglO'Saxons.
Ptolemy even speaks of the Suevi as one division of the
Angles.^
The ancient charters of this district, extending from
the eighth to the twelfth centuries, have been admirably-
edited, and published by the Government of Wlirtem-
berg.^ The local names which occur in these charters
are, to a surprising extent, identical with those in the
Anglo-Saxon charters, published by the English His-
torical Society.* Twenty-four very remarkable corre-
spondences are given by Professor Leo,* and it would be
easy largely to increase the list.
But confining ourselves to the names which have
survived to modern times, I find in the maps of the
admirable government survey of Wiirtemberg no less
than 344 patronymics, of which 266, or 80 per cent,
occur also in England ; ^ and the number of identifica-
tions might, doubtless, be largely increased by a more
careful comparison. The evidence is overwhelming. It
proves that the villages of Wiirtemberg and the villages
of England were originally settled by men bearing the
same family names. One or two instances of these cor-
Tvv * Ayyt t\uif. See Zenss, Die Deutschen^ p. 153. It is a very significaiLt
fact that in mediaeval times the district south of Heidelberg was called the
ANGLA-DEGAU.
• Wirtembergisches Urkundenbuch^ herausgfgeben von dem Koniglickm
Staatsarchrv in Stuttgart, Edid. Kausler ; two vols. 4ta 1849 and 1858.
A large number of ancient Swabian names are also to be found in the
Codix lAiureshanunsis^ in Diimges, Regesta Badensiay and in Trehere,
Origines Palatini, See also Forstemann, Alt-deutsches Nanienbuck^ vol.
ii. passim,
• Codex Dip^omaticus ^vi Saxoniciy opera Joh. M. Kemble ; five
vols. 8vo.
• Anglo-Saxon Names^ pp. 116 — 119.
^ The proportion is the same as in the Boulogne colony.
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Patronymic Village-Names in Wiirtemberg, 151
respondences may here be given, and others will be
found in the appendix.^ Thus the iEslingas are men-
tioned in a Kentish charter, ^ we have Eslingaforda in
the Exon Domesday, and ISLINGTON in Norfolk and
Middlesex- In Artois we find ISLINGHEM and ESLING-
HEN ; and in Wiirtemburg there are several villages
named ESSLINGEN, EISLINGEN, and AISLINGEN. Again,
the Besingas, who are mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon
charter, appear at BESSINGHAM in Norfolk, at BEZING-
HAM in Artois, and at BISSINGEN in Wiirtemberg. The
Birlingas appear in a Worcestershire charter, we have
BIRLING in Kent, BIRLINGHAM in Worcestershire, BAR-
LINGHEM and BERLINGHEN in Artois, and BIERLINGEN
in Wiirtemberg — a place which has been identified,
with the Birlingen of an ancient charter. So we have
BOOKING in Essex, BOUQUINGHEM in Artois, and
BOCHINGEN in Wurtemberg.
» It will be observed that these Swabian names ter-
minate almost universally in ing-en. The suffix en is
usually the sign of the dative plural. Thus Birlingeh
would mean " At the Birlings," that is, ** at the place
where the family of Birl lives." ' It should, however,
be noted that a name like Birlingen may be a corrup-
tion of the BerlingA^, which we find in Artois.* The
' Appendix B.
* Cod. DipL no. in.
' So Bad//f is a dative plural answering to Thermis or Aquis. HolsteiVi,
Swed/^f , Hess^, and Preuss^» are also dative plurals. Pott, Personen-Nameriy
p. 169 ; Forstemann, Alt-Deutsches Namenbuch^ vol. iL p. 835 ; Ortsnatnm,
PP* 194* 195; Grimm, Deut, Gram, voL iL p. 349 ; Meyer, Ortsnamen des
Kantons Zurich^ p. 139 ; Bender, Deutschm Ortsnamen, p. 103 ; ,Vilmar,
Ortsnamen^ pp. 264, 265 ; and p. 69, supra,
* That the Suevi were associated with the Saxons in the formation of
the Flemish settlement is proved by the names of some fifteen villages in
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I S2 The Anglo-Saxons,
hen in this case is, undoubtedly, a corruption of hem,
for we find that, close to the coast, the village-names
end in hem^ a suffix which passes into hen as we ap-
proach the Belgian frontier. The hem of Artois is
undoubtedly only a phonetic modification of the Eng-
lish hUm; and it is, therefore, a question whether the
'ing-en of Wiirtembeig is not the same as the -ing-
ham of England, since we can trace it through the
intermediate stages of inghen and inghem}
What interpretation shall we put upon these facts ?
Shall we conclude that the cradle of the Saxon race is
to be sought in the Valley of the Neckar, or were
Swabia and England both colonies from a common
motherland ? In the case of a fluviatile migration the
descent of the river would be far more easy, and there-
fore far more probable, than the ascent against a rapid
current like that of the Rhine.* But this argument is of
Flanders which contain their name, e,g, Suevezele, Sueveghem, &c.
Wamkonig, Flandrischf Staatsgeschichie, vol. i. p. 91.
1 In Switzerland heim often becomes en, e.g. Altheim is now Alten,
Dachsheim is now Dachsen, Sickingen was anciently Sickingheim. Pott,
Personennamen, p. 169 ; Meyer, Ortsnamefiy p. 125. In Hesse we find
Sielen, anciently Siliheim, and Heskem, anciently Heistincheim. Vilmar,
Ortsnamen, p. 271 ; Foistemann, Ortsnamen, pp. 98, 231. Some of the
names, instead of the suffix ing-en, terminate in ig-heim. This is clearly
the Anglo-Saxon ham, a home, while h&m, an inclosure, would be repre-
sented by en. The distinction which has been lost in England has been
preserved in Swabia. Since heim is a long syllable, the penultimate is
shortened for phonetic reasons by the omission of a letter, and ingheim
becomes igheim, or enheim, as in the cases of Bonigheim, Besigheim,
Bietigheun, Billigheim and Dackenheim.
• Along the whole course of the Rhine, from the Neckar to the sea, a
distance of more than 250 miles, we find scattered, here and there, isolated
names undoubtedly akin to those which we have been considering. There
is no cluster of them to be discovered anywhere, nothing but single names,
such as Bingen, Wellingen, Rellinghaus, and Eppinghofen, which seem to
have been waifs by the roadside, dropped by the passing host of pilgrims.
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Original seat of the Saxons. 153
small force, when weighed against the concurrence of
ancient tradition, which places the Saxons on the coast
of the German ocean. Ptolemy speaks of the " islands
of the Saxons ; " and the geographer of Ravenna says,
"confinalis Daniae est patria quae nominatur Saxonia."
Orosius speaks of the Saxons, "gentem Oceani in
litoribus et paludibus inviis sitam." ^
These and other early notices render it difficult to
avoid the conclusion that the ** old Saxons " were seated
somewhere between the mouths of the Elbe and of the
Rhine, in juxtaposition with the Suevi, the Franks, the
Lombards, and the Angles. As we have already seen, it
was here that, for thirty-two years, they withstood the
power of Charlemagne, who avenged their obstinate
resistance by the massacre of thousands of their warriors
in cold blood, and dispersed a third of the nation into
distant provinces.* This extermination of the Saxons
on the Weser, coupled with the subsequent influx of a
Sclavonic population, as evinced by the local names, may
serve to account for the absence of characteristic Saxon
names in that region, while the Swabians and Angles of
Wurtemberg may possibly have formed one of the trans-
ported colonies of Charlemagne ; if, indeed, the Swabian
* On the original seat of the old Saxons see Lappenberg, Anglo-Saxon
Kings^ vol. L p. 87 ; Zeuss, Die Dmtschen, pp. 380—394. The modem
kingdom of Saxony was Sclavonic to a late date, as is shown by the local
names. It is out of the question to locate the "old Saxons" in this
region.
' Eginhard, in his life of Charlemagne, sec. vii. and again in his Annals,
A.D. 804, says that Charlemagne transplanted 10,000 men of the Saxons,
with their wives and children, into Germany and Gaul. AU these were
from the Duchy of Bremen. The names of Sachsenhausen, near Frankfort,
and Katzellenbogen in the gorge of the Rhine, may be records of some of
these settlements. See p. 143, supra ; Pertz, Mon, Ger. vol ii. p. 447 ;
vol i. p. 191 : Palgrave, English Commomvealth^ vol. I p. 40.
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154 l^f^ -^ nglo' Saxons,
colony was not a settlement brought about at the same
time and by the same causes that produced the descents
upon the English coast.^
1 Both Zeuss and Latham think that the Suevi left the shores of the
Weser for those of the Danube and the Neckar m the third century. The
Saxons moved southwards in the sixth century. See Zeuss, Die DaUschen^
p. 316 ; Turner, Anglo-Saxom^ vol. i. p. 208.
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The Northmen, 155
CHAPTER VIII.
THE NORTHMEN.
Incursions of the Northmm-^ Norse Ust^words; ''by,'' '* thorpe,'' ''toft,''
"vaU,"" '* garth," "ford;' "wick" --Vestiges of the Danes near the
Thames — Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Lincolnshire — The Danelagh —
Norwegians in Sutherland, the Orkneys, Shetlands, Hebrides, and Isle of
Man — Cumberland and Westmoreland — TTu JViredl — Colony in Pern-
brokeshire — Devonshire and the South Coast — Northmen in Ireland —
— Intensity of the Scandinavian element in different parts of England —
Northmen in France — Names in Normandy — Norse Names in Spain,
Sicily, and the Hellespont — Local vestiges of the Anglo-Norman conquest
— Anglo-Norman nobles in Scotland,
For three centuries the Northmen were the terror of
Western Europe. They sailed up the Elbe, the Scheldt,
the Rhine, the Moselle, and the Neckar.^ They ravaged
the valleys of the Somme, the Seine, the Marne, the
Yonne, the Loire, and the Garonne. They besieged
Paris, Amiens, Orleans, Tours, Troyes, Chalons, Poic-
tiers, Bordeaux, and Toulouse.* They plundered the
coasts of Italy, and encountered the Arabs at Seville
and Barcelona.^ Over the entrance to the arsenal at
Venice may still be seen one of the sculptured lions
* Strinnholm, IVikingsiige, p. 8l.
• lb. pp. 34, 35, 98, 144 ; Crichton, Scandinavia, vol. i. p. 165.
' Gayangos, Moham, Dynasties, vol. ii. pp. 116, 431, 435 ; Strinnholm,
IVikingsiige, p. 36; Depping, Expeditions, vol i. pp. no, 134.
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1 56 TJte Northmen.
which once adorned the Piraeus at Athens. The marble
is deeply scored with Norse runes, which, by the aid of
photography, have been deciphered by Professor Rafn of
Copenhagen, and which prove to be a record of the
capture of the Piraeus by Harold Hardrdda, the Norwe-
gian king who fell at Stamford Bridge.^ The Northmen
established themselves as conquerors or colonists over
the half of England, in the isles and western coasts of
Scotland, in Greenland, in Iceland, in the Isle of Man,
and in the north of France — they founded kingdoms in
Naples, Sicily, France, England, and Ireland — ^while a
Norse dynasty ruled Russia for seven hundred years,*
and for centuries the Varangian guard upheld the
tottering throne of the Byzantine emperors.
The historic annals of these <<)nquests are scanty and
obscure. But the Norse names which are still found
scattered over the north-west of Europe supply a means
of ascertaining many facts which history has left un-
recorded. By the aid of the names on our modem
maps we are able to define the precise area which was
ravaged by the Scandinavians, . and we can, in many
instances, detect the nature of the descent, whether for
purposes of plunder, trade, or colonization. Sometimes,
indeed, we can even recover the very names of the
Viking chiefs and of their followers, and ascertain from
whence they sailed, whether from the low-lying coasts of
Denmark, or from the rock-bound fjords of Norway.
Before we proceed to attempt the solution of any of
1 Laing, Hdmskringla, vol. iii. pp. 3, 4 ; Dasent, Burnt Njal, vol. i. p.
10 ; vol. iL p. 499 ; St. John, Four Conquests^ voL ii. p. 248.
' Of the fifty Russian ambassadors to Constantinople in the year 945,
as many as forty-seven bear Norse names, such as Rulov (Rolf), Phrelaf
(Frideleif), Grim, Karl, Ulf, Asbrand, and Sven. Strinnholm, Wikingtuge,
p. 296.
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A rea of Norse Invasion, 157
these curious problems, it will be necessary to exhibit
the tools with which the historical lock is to be picked.
We must analyse and classify the characteristic names
which the Northmen have left upon the map.
The most valuable and important of these test-words
is byr or by. This word originally meant a dwelling, or
a single farm, and hence it afterwards came to denote a
village.! In Iceland, at the present day, the ordinary
name given to a farmstead is boer,^ and in Scotland a
cow-stall is still called a byre. We find this word as a
suffix in the village-names of Denmark, and of all
countries colonized ^ by the Danes. In Normandy we
find it in the form bue or boei4f^ and in England it is
usually contracted into by.^ In the Danish district of
England — between Watling Street and the River Tees —
the suffix by frequently takes the place of the Anglo-
Saxon -ham or -ton. In this region there are numerous
names like GRIMSBY,* WHITBY, DERBYj^* RUGBY, KIRBY,
^ A by-law is the local law enacted by the township. Compare the
Burlaw, or Birlaw, of Scotland. Palgrave, English Commonwealth, vol. i.
p. So. On the suffix iy, see Donaldson, English Ethnog, p. 54 ; Worsaae,
Danes and Norwegians, pp. 67, 159; Latham, English Language, voL i.
p. 431 ; Ansted and Latham, Channel Islands, p. 333 ; Fergxison, North-
men, p. 42.
* Peaks and Passes, Second Series, vol. i. p. 47.
' It denotes Danish colonization. In places visited only for purposes of
trade or plunder no dwellings would be required.
* The Devonshire suffix here or hear comes still nearer to the Icelandic
form. See p. 179, infra. The Normand boeuf%^cca& to be represented in
the English booth, and the Scotch bothie, Le Prevost, Recfurches, p. 40 ;
Feiguson, Northmen, p. 46.
* At the port of Elsinore, previous to the recent abolition of the Sound
dues, the vessels of Grimsby could claim certain privileges and exemptions
conferred by the Danish founder of the town. Palgrave, Eng. Common-
wealth, vol. i. p. 50 ; Normandy and England, vol. iii. p. 349.
* In a few cases we have documentary evidence of a change of name
consequent upon the Danish conquest Thus we know that the Norse
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I $8 The Nortkmm,
NETHERBY, SELBY, Of ASHBY. In Lincolnshire alone
there are one hundred names ending in by. To the north
of Watling Street there are some six hundred instances
of its occurrence — to the south of it, scarcely one. There
are scores and scores of names ending in by in Jutland
and Sleswic, and not half-a-dozen throughout the whole
of Germany.^ The suffix is common both to the Nor-
wegian and Danish districts of England, though it is
more frequent in the latter.
Another useful test-word is thorpe, tkrop, or trap,-
which we find in ALTHORPE, COPMANSTHORPE, and
wlLSTROP, near York. It pieans an aggregation of men
or houses — a village. This suffix is very useful in
enabling us to discriminate between the settlements of
the Danes and those of the Norwegians, being confined
almost exclusively to the former. It is very common in
Denmark and East Anglia, it is very rare in Norway, it
does not occur in Lancashire, only once in Cumber-
land, and very seldom in Westmoreland.
The word toft^ which in Normandy takes the form toty
is also distinctly Danish and East Anglian. It is very
scarce in Norway and Westmoreland, and is unknown in
name of Deoraby or derby took the place of the former Saxon name of
Northweorthig, or Norworth as it would now be written. So the Saxon
Streoneshalch became the Norse whitby.
1 Even these are chiefly foimd on the Eyder and north of the Elbe — a
Danish district.
' It corresponds to the German darf, a village, seen in the names
ALTORF, DUSSELDORF, &c Cf. Amold, Hist. Rome, vol. i. p. 526. In
Westphalia and Miinster the form trup or drup is very common, as
HOLTRUP, ALDRUP, SANDRUP, BARNSTRUP, WESTRUP. Massman, in
Dorow's DenkmaleTf vol. i. pp. 187 — 192. The etymological affinities of
thorp€ are discussed by Diefenbach, Verglekhendes IVorUrbuch, vol. ii.
p. 698 ; Leo, A,'S. Names, pp. 43—50 ; Forstemann, Namenbuch, voL ii,
p. 1391.
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The Suffixes " by I' " thorpel' and " tofC 1 59
Cumberland. It signifies a homestead or inclosure, and,
like by and thorpe, it is an indication of permanent
colonization.
Thwaite, on the other hand, is the distinctive Norwe-
gian suffix. The meaning is nearly the same as the
Saxon field, a forest clearing. It is very common in
Norway, it occurs forty-three times in Cumberland, and
not once in Lincolnshire, while tkorpe, the chief Danish
test-word, which occurs sixty-three times in Lincolnshire,
is found only once in Cumberland.
In Normandy the greater proportion of Norse names
end in vilUy as TANCARVILLE or HACONVILLE. This
has always, I believe, been referred to the Romance
word vilkiy but a careful study of the regions in which it
occurs has convinced me that it must be the Teutonic
wHler,^ an abode, a single house, which is so common in
e Rhinegau and in many parts of Germany.* Toward
e edge of the Norman occupancy it takes the form
Uiers,^ as in the name HARDIVILLIERS. In England it
found in the form well or will, as at KETTLEWELL,
d BRADWELL.
The Norse garth, an. inclosure, which corresponds to
\ Anglo-Saxon yard, has already been discussed.*
The work beck, * a brook, is more frequent in the Nor-
Old High German Ttnlari or wUre, New High German weiler,
temann, AU-deutsches Namenbuch, voL ii. pp. 1527 — 1533 ; Bender,
namen, p. 131.
(n Canton Zurich it occurs more than seventy times, as in breitwil.
jr, Ortsnamen des Kantons Zurich, p. 75.
This form alone may suffice to show how inadequate the Romance villa
a source of these names.
See p. 121, supra, micklegarth or "Greatgarth" was the Norse
e of Constantinople.
' In Mercia we find the form batch, as in Woodbatch, Comberbatch, and
Sandbach.
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1 60 The Northmen,
wegian than in the Danish region, and this also is the
case with the suffixes -haughy -withy -taruy and -dale}
The word force, which is the ordinary name for a water-
fall in the lake district, is exclusively Norwegian, and
corresponds to the Icelandic and Norwegian foss? The
vjoxAfell is also derived from Norway, where it takes the
iormffeld (pronounced fi-ell). It is the usual name for
a hill in the north-west of England.^
We now come to the words which do not necessarily
imply any permanent colonization by the Northmen.
The suffix ford occurs both in -Anglo-Saxon and in
Norse names, but with characteristic difference of mean-
ing. In either csiseford is a derivative oifaran or fara,
to go.* The fords of the Anglo-Saxon husbandmen,
which are scattered so abundantly over the south of
England, are passages across rivers for men or cattle;
the fords of the Scandinavian sea-rovers are passages for
ships ^ up arms of the sea, as in the case of the fjords of
1 The Anglo-Saxon form is dtll, as in arundel. The Norse form dak
is seen m kendal, annandale, and lonsdale. The German equivalent
is thai. When dai is a prefix it is usually a cormption of the Celtic dai^ a
field, as in the cases of Dalkeith and dalrymple.
> E.g, the waterfall of skogarfoss in Iceland.
» The Anglo-Saxony?^/:/ or yS/(/ is from the same root as the tfone/r//.
Kfdl is a place where the ground is on the fall ; 9. fiefd or/eld is where the
trees have been felled. In old writers wood and feld are continually con-
trasted. Just like the American term " a clearing," the word Juid bore
witness to the great extent of unfelled timber which still remained. With
the progress of cultivation the word has lost its primitive force. The word
fold is from the same source. See p. I2i, supra ; Trench, Study of Words,
p. 200; ^^ZTsx^xi^y Berichtigungefiy p. 17.
* A cabman's or waterman's y2rr.f is the person who goes with him. Far^-
well is an imperative— journey well. The field -y&r^ is so called from its
characteristic habit of moving across the fields. See Diefenbach, Vergi.
Wort. vol. i. pp. 364 — 366 ; Sparschuh, Berichtigtmgefu, p. 65.
A While many of our agricultural terms, as basket, crook, kiln, fleam,
barrow, ashlar, gavelock, rasher, and mattock, are of Celtic origin, seafarmg
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''Ford'' and'' wickr i6i
Norway and Iceland,^ and the firths of Scotland. These
Norse fords are found on the coasts which were fre-
quented for purposes of trade or plunder. We have
instances in WEXFORD, CARLINGFORD, WATERFORD, and
STRANGFORD in Ireland, in MILFORD and HAVERFORD
in Wales, in ORFORD and CHILLSFORD in Suffolk, and
perhaps in SEAFORD 2 in Sussex, and DEPTFORD, the
•* deep reach " on the Thames.
Wick is also found in both Anglo-Saxon and Norse
names, but here also there is a difference in the ap-
plication, analogous to that which we have just con-
sidered. The primary meaning in either case seems to
have been a station.' With the Anglo-Saxons it was a
station or abode on land — hence a house or a village :
with the Northmen it was a station for ships* — hence
a small creek or bay. The sea-rovers derived their name
of vik-ingSy^ or " creekers," from the wics or creeks in
which they anchored. The inland wicks, therefore, are
mostly Saxon, while the Norse wicks fringe our coasts,®
words, such as cockswain, boatswain, and skipper, are mostly Norse.
Gamett, Essay Sy p. 31. Cf. Diez, Gram, d, Rom. Spr. vol. i. p. 56.
* E.g. FAXA FIORD, HAFNAFIORD, and HVALFIORD in Iceland.
* Still pronounced Seafoord.
' See Marsh, Lectures on the Origin and Hist, of the English Language^
p. 132. The root runs through all the Aryan languages. We have the
Sanskrit vi^a^ the Zend vtfy the Greek oT/cos, a house, and the Latin vicus^
the Maeao-Gothic veihs, the Polish wies, the Irish fich, the Cymric gwic, all
meaning an abode or village. Diefenbach, Vergieiehendes Wbrterbuch,
vol. t p. 138 ; Pictet, Orig. Indo-Europ. voL ii. p. 238 ; Vilmar, Ortsnamen,
p. 270 ; Crichton, Scandinaviaf vol. i. p. 37 ; Sparschuh, Benchiigungen,
p. 95 ; Forstemann, Namenbuch^ vol. ii. p. 1509.
* There is, however, an Anglo-Saxon verb wiciany to run a ship on shore,
to take up a station.
* Afterwards the word viking came to be used for any robber. Thus in
a Norse Biblical paraphrase Goliath is termed a viking. Dasent, Burnt
Njal, vol. ii. p. 353.
* The whole of the Essex coast is lined with names ending in wick.
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1 62 The Northmen,
and usually indicate the stations of pirates, rather than
those of colonists. Thus we have WICK and SAND-
WICH, in Kent; WYKE, near Portland; BERWICK, in
Sussex and Northumberland ; and WICKLOW, in Ireland,
all of which occur in places where there are no inland
names denoting Norse colonization.
The names of NORTHWICH, MIDDLEWICH, NANT-
WICH, DROITWICH, NETHERWICH, SHIRLEYWICH, WICK-
HAM, and perhaps of WARWICK, although inland places,
are derived indirectly from the Norse wic, a bay, and not
from the Anglo-Saxon wic, a village. All these places
are noted for the production of salt, which was formerly
obtained by the evaporation of sea-water in shallow
wiches or bays, as the word baysalt testifies. Hence
a place for making salt came to be called a wych-house,
and Nantwich, Droitwich, and other places where rock-
salt was found, took their names from the wych-houses
built for its preparation.^
Another word which denotes the occasional presence
of the sea-rovers is ness or naze, which means a nose, or
About thirty of the farmhouses in tlie salt marshes bear this name. We
have the Wick (three times), Eastwick (twice), Westwick (twice), Northwick
(twice), as well asjewick, Raywick, Frowick, Langwick, and Lastwick.
These names may be derived either from the Anglo-Saxon, or from the
Norse, wic. More probably, however, they should be referred to an entirely
different source, namely the Anglo-Saxon vtc^ a marsh, a word which is
related to the German weichy soft, and the modem English word weak.
Diefenbach, Vergleichendes IVorterhtch, vol. i. p. 139 ; Leo, RectUudines
Sing. Pers. p. 53. The numerous places in South Tyrol called Vigo seem
to derive their names from the Latin vicus. Gilbert and Churchill, Dolomite
Mountains^ p. 74.
1 See Knapp, English Roots and Ramifications, p. i8. Domesday Book
mentions salt works at Wich, Upewic, Helperic, Midelwic, and Norwiche,
all in Worcestershire. From the same authority we learn that at Droitwich
certain dues of salt were payable. Ellis, Introduction to Domesday, pp. xL
and xli.
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" Ness'' and '' scarr 163
promontory of land. Thus we have CAITHNESS, WRAB-
NESS, CAPE GRINEZ, near Calais, and the naze in
Norway and in Essex.
We may ^Iso detect the visits of the Northmen by the
word scary a face of rock or cliff — from skera, to skear^ or
cut asunder.^ Instances are to be found in the names of
SCARBOROUGH, the SKERRIES, and SKERRYVORE. A
holm means an island, almost always an island in a lake -
or river. STOCKHOLM stands on such an island. We
have also FLATHOLM in the Severn, and LINGHOLME on
Windermere. An island in the sea is denoted by the
suffix oe^ a, ayy or ey?' as in the case of the FAROE
ISLANDS ; MAGEROE, in Norway ; STAFFA, lONA, and
CUMBRAY, on the western coast of Scotland ; and LAMB AY
on the Irish coast
Furnished with these test-words we may endeavour to
trace the various settlements of the Danes and of the
Norwegians.
To begin with our own island. As will be seen by
a reference to the coloured map, the Danes of Jutland
appear to have frequented the south-eastern portion of
the island for purposes of trade or plunder rather than of
colonization. This we gather from the fact that the
Norse names in this district are found chiefly in the
immediate vicinity of the coast, and designate either safe
anchorages, or dangerous headlands. We find hardly
^ Cf. the Gaelic and Erse sgdr^ a diff, and the Anglo-Saxon scirarty to
divide. Hence the shire^ a division of land, the shore which divides land
from sea, a skeiver, the plonghr^arir and the shears, instruments for dividing,
and a share, a divided part To score is to make notches on a stick, and the
numeral a score denotes the number of notches such a stick would contain.
A scar is the mark where the flesh has been divided. A shard is a bit of
broken pottery. Sharp and sharp denote that something has been cut off.
* The suffix ey is Anglo-Saxon as well as Norse.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
1 64 The Northmetu
one solitary instance of the occurrence of the suffixes by^
toft, thorpe, or thwaite, which would indicate permanent
residence.
London was repeatedly besieged by the Danes. With
the hope of capturing the rich and unrifled prize, their
fleets lay below the city for many months together.^
Their stations were at DEPTFORD, " the deep fiord ; " at
GREENWICH,* the "green reach:" and at WOOLWlCH,
the "hill reach," ^ so called apparently from its being
overhung by the conspicuous landmark of Shooter's
HilL The spits and headlands, which mark the navi-
gation along the Thames and the adjacent coasts, almost
all bear characteristic Norse names — such as the FORE-
NESS, the WHITENESS, SHELLNESS, SHEERNESS, SHOE-
BURYNESS, FOULNESS, WRABNESS, ORFORDNESS, and the
NAZE, near Harwich. On the Essex coast we find DANE-
SEY FLATS, LANGENHOE, and ALRESFORD.* DENGEY
Hundred, in the south-east of Essex, is spelt Daneing in
a charter of Edward the Confessor.* PRETTLEWELL and
HAWKSWELL, in the same neighbourhood, may probably
contain the suffix -villej which is so common in Nor-
mandy ; and THOBY, ne^r Ingatestone,* SCAR House,
and LEE BECK, indicate the presence of Danish settlers.
In the extreme north-eastern corner of the county we
* Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 1013, 1014, 1016.
s There is a grenivik in Iceland, which is mentioned in the Landna-
fnabok, p. 255.
' This etymology is confirmed by the fact that Woolwich is written
Hulviz in Domesday.
^ Stansgate Wick, Wigborough, and Battleswick may be either Saxon or
Norse. See p. 161, supra.
* Cough's Camden, vol. ii. p. 132.
* Not far from hence Cnut gained a great victory over Eadmund Iron-
de, which may have led to the settlement of some of the conquerors in the
neighbourhood. See Chapter XII.
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Tlu Northmen in Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk. 165
find a little compact Danish colony — planted on a spot
well guarded by marshes and the sea. Here we discover
the Danish names of HARWICH, holmes Island, KIRBY,
THORPE-le-Soken, and East THORPE. At WALTON ON
THE NAZE there seems to have been a walled inclosure,
to defend the intruders from the assaults of their hostile
Saxon neighbours. In the south-eastern corner of
Suffolk we have another WALTON, probably a second
fortified outpost of the Danish kingdom.^
In Suffolk there are a few scattered Danish names,
chiefly near the coast — such as IPSWICH, DUNWICH,^
WALDERSWICK, ORFORD, CHILLESFORD, THORPE,
BARNBY, and LOWESTOFT.
The name of NORWICH is probably Norse. The city
is situated on what was formerly an arm of the sea, and
it was visited by Danish fleets.* In the extreme south-
eastern corner of Norfolk there is a dense Danish settle-
ment— occupying the Hundreds of East and West
FLEGG,* a space some eight miles by seven, well pro-
tected on every side by the sea, and the estuaries of the
Bure and the Yare. In this small district eleven names
* In England we find some forty places called Walton. With one or
two exceptions these occur in the neighbourhood of some isolated Danish
or Norw^;ian colony. There are places bearing the name in the neighbour-
hood of Harwich, Ipswich, Fenny Stratford, Lynn, Wisbeach, Liverpool,
and Haverford West, all regions inhabited by an intrusive population, to
whom the security afforded by a walUd town would be a matter of prime
necessity.
■ Beda writes the name Dunmoc. It would seem, therefore, that the last
syllable of the modem name is due to Danish influence.
' S€Lxon Chronicle^ A.D. 1 004; Turner, Angio-Saxons, vol. ii. p. 317;
Palgrave, Normandy and England, vol. iii. p. 398.
* From the Norse yrorAJifgg, or Danish vlak, flat. Compare the names
of FLECKNEY, in Leicestershire, and flekkesfjord and fleckeroe, on
the Norwegian coast.
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1 66 The Northmen,
out of twelve are unmistakably Norse, compounded
mostly of some common Danish personal name, and the
suffix by. We find the villages of STOKESB Y, BILLOCKBY,
FILBY, HEMSBY, ORMSBY, SCROTEBY, ROLLESBY, MALTBY,
HERRINGBY and CLIPPESBY. The parish of REPPS re-
minds us of the Icelandic districts called Hreppar} and
St. Olave's Bridge preserves the name of the royal saint
of Scandinavia. In the remaining part of Norfolk there
are scattered names of a distinctively Danish cha-
racter, though they by no means preponderate.^ Here,
however, we are met by an element of uncertainty, since
the dialectic peculiarities of the Danes from Jutland
merge into those of the East Anglians* who migrated
from the contiguous districts of Holstein and Sleswic ; and
* See p. 191, infra,
■ In the list of Suffolk surnames given in Donaldson's Engiisk Ethno-
graphy, pp. 62 — 65, there are several which occur in the Landnamabok of
Iceland. The sons of Njal were Skarphethin, Helgi, and Grimmr; these
three names are common in Norfolk in the form Sharpin, Heely, and
Gryme. Dasent, Burnt Njal^ vol. i. p. 79 ; Borrow, Wild WaUsy vol. i.
p. 352, note.
' In the Rev. R. Gamett's Essay on the Language and Dialects of the
British Isles {Essays, pp. 139, 140, 143) an attempt is made to distinguish
the Anglian districts by means of the hard forms, Carlton, Fiskerton,
Skipton, Skelbrooke, Skephouse, &c., which lake the place of the
Charltons or Chorltons, Fishertons, Shelbrookes, and Sheephooses, which
are found to the south of the Thames and the west of the Teme. But it
may be doubted how, far these forms are Anglian and how far Scandi-
navian. Mr. R, Gamett*s Anglian districts are: I. East Anglian —
Norfolk and Suffolk. 2. Middle Anglian — Lincoln, Notts, and Derby-
shire. 3. North Anglian^West Riding. 4. Northumbrian — ^Durham,
Nortliumberland, and the North and East Ridings. All these so-called
Anglian districts are also, it will be seen, decisively Scandinavian. In
fact, the Saxon peculiarities pass into those of the Anglians, the Anglian
into those of the Danes, and these again into those of the Norwegians.
The Danish inroads were the continuation, under another name, of the
earlier Anglo-Saxon expeditions. See Palgrave, Eng. Comm, vol. i
p. 568.
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Lincolnshire. 167
it is often difficult to discriminate between the names
derived from either source.
When, however, we cross the Wash and come to
Lincolnshire, we find overwhelming evidence of an almost
exclusive Danish occupancy. About one-fourth of the
village names in Lincolnshire present the characteristic
Danish suffix by, while the total number of Danish
names in this county amounts to about three hundred —
more than are found in all the rest of Southumbrian
England.
The fens which border the Witham, the Welland, and
the Nen eflfectually guarded the southern frontier of the
Danish settlers ; and this natural boundary they do not
seem to have crossed in any considerable numbers. A
line drawn from east to west, about eleven miles to the
north of Boston, will mark the southern limit of the
purely Danish, as distinguished from the Anglian settle-
ment.^ North of this line is a district about nine miles
by twelve, between Tattershall, New Bolingbroke, Horn-
castle, and Spilsby, which would appear to have been
more exclusively Danish than any other in the kingdom.^
In this small space there are some forty unmistakable
Danish village-names ; such as KIRBY, MOORBY, ENDERBY,
WILKSBY, CLAXBY, MININGSBY, HAGNABY, DANDERBY,
SCRIVELSBY, HAREBY, LUSBY, REVESBY, RAITHBY,
SOMMERSBY, SALMONBY, FULLETBY, ASHBY, ASGARDBY,
HEMINGBY, TOFT, and Others, all denoting the fixed
residence of a Danish population.
From Lincolnshire the Danes spread inland over the
1 See the coloured map.
* A list of surnames compiled from the parish registers of this district,
and compared with the names in the Landnamabok of Iceland, would pro-
bably prove of great ethnological interest and value.
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1 68 The Northmen.
contiguous counties. The Danelagh, or Danish district,
by agreement between Alfred and Guthrum, renewed by
Eadmund and Anlaf in 941, was divided from the Saxon
kingdom by a line passing along the Thames, the Lea,
and the Ouse, and then following the course of Watling
Street, the Roman road which runs in a straight line
from Lonck)n to Chester.^ North of this line we find in
the local names abundant evidence of Danish occupancy,
while to the south of it hardly a single name is to be
found denoting any permanent colonization. The
coloured map will show the manner in which the Danish
local names radiate from the Wash. In Leicestershire,
Rutland, Northamptonshire, and Yorkshire, the Danish
names preponderate over those of the Anglo-Saxon
type ; while Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Bedford-
shire, and the adjacent counties, protected by the fens,
present scarcely a single Danish name.^
We have, however, the Danish village-names of
HEYTHROP, and COCKTHORPE in Oxfordshire. DACORUM
Hundred, in Herts, is called Danais in Domesday : it
contains the hamlets of ELSTROP, AYSTROPE, CAUSE-
WELL, HAMWELL, and a place called DANEFURLONG;
and on the borders of the hundred, close to the dividing
line of Watling Street, are KETTLEWELL,^ CHISWILL,
and DANESEND.* It will be seen also how the Danish
names cluster round each of the Danish fortresses of
1 Roger de Hoveden, p. 423 ; St. John, Four ConqtustSy voL i. p. 354 ;
Robertson, Scotiaftd under her Early Kings^ vol. ii. p. 273 ; Turner,
Anglo-Saxons^ vol. i. p. 378 ; Worsaae, Daties and Norwegians^ p. 21.
' Toft, in Cambridgeshire, is almost the only instance.
' An unmistakably Norse name. In the Landnamabok Ketell occurs
repeatedly as a personal name.
^ Gough*s Camdin^ vol. ii. p. 67.
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Scotland, 169
Leicester, Derby, Stamford, Nottingham, Lincoln, and
York.i
. As we leave Yorkshire and approach Durham and
Northumberland the Norse names rapidly diminish in
frequency, and north of the Tweed they almost entirely
disappear. The few that we find are usually only
stations on the coast, as ALNWiCK and BERWICK. The
names of a few bays and headlands'^ prove that the
Northmen were familiar with the navigation of the coast,
while the absence of any Norse names of villages or
farms proves that the soil, for some reason, was left in
the undisturbed possession of the Saxons or the Celts.
In Fife we find by once or twice, and thorpe appears
once in the form oi threap.^ The map proves conclusively
that the district between the Tees and the Forth is one
of the most purely Saxon portions of the island, thus
remarkably corroborating the historical fact that in the
eleventh century even the Lothians were reckoned as a
part of England.* •
But as we approach the north-eastern extremity of
Scotland a new phenomenon presents itself. We find a
lai^e number of Norse names ; they are, however, no
longer Danish as heretofore, but exclusively Norwegian.
We find, in fact, that the local nomenclature bears
decisive witness to the historical fact that, down to a
comparatively late period,* the Shetlands, the Orkneys,
the Hebrides, and the Isle of Man, were not dependencies
* On the Danish burghs, see Worsaae, Danes and Norwegians^ P- 3^ »
Kemble, Saxons in England^ vol. ii. p. 320.
* E.g, Alnwick, Berwick, the Firths of Forth, Tay, and Moray, Black-
ness, Borrowstowness, Fifeness, Buttonness, Burleness.
' See Chalmers, Caledonia^ vol, i. p. 487.
* See Palgrave, Nornidndy and England^ vol. iv. p. 346.
* A.D. 1266,
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170 The Northmen.
of the Crown of Scotland, but jarldoms attached to the
kingdom of Norway,
It may seem strange to us that the extreme north-
western corner of Great Britain should be called SUTHER-
LAND.^ No inhabitants of Scotland could have bestowed
so inappropriate a name. And, accordingly, we find
that the Gaelic peasantry call the county Catuibh.^ The
name of Sutherland was evidently given by a people
living still further to the north, Sutherland, in short,
was the mainland to the south of the Orkney jarldom,
Here, as well as in Caithness, we find numerous
Norwegian names, such as BRORA, THURSO, WICK,
SKEROAR, Loch SKERROW, and SANDWICK bay. The
barren uplands were left to the Gael ; while in the more
fertile straths and glens we find the Norse suffixes -dale,
-seter, and -ster. Names like LOCH LAXFORD* or STRATH
HELMSDALE, in which a Celtic synonym is prefixed to
the Norse word, seem to point to the recovery by the
Celts of that preponderance of which, for a time, they
had been deprived.
In the Shetlands every local name, without exception,
is Norwegian. The names of the farms end, as in
Norway, in -seter or -ster, and the hills are called -kow,
'hoy, and -holL The names of the small bays have the
Norwegian suffix -voe, as WESTVOE, AITHSVOE, LAXVOE,
and HAMNAVOE.* We find also burrafiord, saxaford.
LERWICK, and SANDWICK. In the whole of the Orkneys
1 See p. 75, supra.
9 This word, and the first syllable of Caithness, are probably vestiges of
an Ugrian occapation, which preceded the arrival of the Celts. In the
Lapp language ketje means an end or extremity. See Robertson, Early
KingSy vol. i. p. 33 ; Worsaae, Danes, p. 253.
•' I.e. Salmon fjord.
^ Worsaae, Danes, p. 230.
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TJu Sketlands and Orkneys. 171
there are only two, or perhaps three, Celtic names.^
The names of the islands of which the group is composed
present the Norwegian suffix, a^ island. We have SANDA
(sand island), STRONSA (stream island), and WESTRA
(west island) ; and often, as in the case of RONALDSA
and EGILSA, we find the name of the first Norwegian
chief who found here a safe island home.^
It was the practice of the Vikings to retire during the
winter months to one of the small islands off" the coast,
and to issue forth again on the return of summer to
recommence their piracies.^ The names of the in-
numerable islets of the Hebrides bear curious testimony
to the prevalence of this practice. The small islands,
with few exceptions, bear Norse appellations, while the
local names on the mainland are almost wholly Celtic*
. The name of LEWIS is the Norwegian Ijod-hus? the
wharf or landing-place ; and in this island we find bays
1 One of these is the name of the group. In the word Orkney the
terminal syllable ey is the Norse for island. The n which precedes is, I
imagine, a vestige of the Gaelic innis or inch^ an island. Ore is probably
from the Gaelic orcy a whale. Diefenbach, Celtka^ voL i. p. 41. Milton
speaks of " the haunt of seals and ores.'* Dr. Guest and Chalmers think
that the root is the Cymric word orch^ which means a border or limit.
Guest, On GentUe Names^ in Phil, Proc. vol. i. p. 9.
* The Faroe Islands are wholly Norwegian. We have the islands of
SAN DOE, MEGGANAES, HESTOE, VAAGOE, NAALSOE, and the chief town is
THORSHAVN.
' Skene, History of the Highlanders y vol. i. p. 91.
* There are three islands called Bemera, two called Scalpa, two called
Pabbay. "We have also the islands of Skarpa, Tarransay, Giliisay, Barra,
Sundera, Watersay, Mingalay, Sanderay, Plottay, Uidhay, Eriskay, Fiaray,
Wiay, Grimsay, Rona, Calvay, Lingay, and Hellesay. Nearer to the coast
we find Rona, Fradda, Raasay, Soa (twice), Longa, Sanday, Canna, Ulva,
Gommeray, Stafia (cf. Stafafell, in Iceland), lona, Colonsay, Oronsay,
Kerrcra, Skarba, Jura, Islay, Gigha, Cara, Cumbray, Ailsa, and many
others.
* Ansted and Latham, Channel Islands^ p. 333; Innes, Orig. Par,
Possibly, however, the root is lod^ a bundle of fishing lines.
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172 The Northmen.
called SANDwrcK and NORWICK. UIG was anciently
Wig,^ and HARRIS is a corruption of Harige.^ BROAD-
FORD bay, in Skye, is a name identical with BREIDA
FIORD in Iceland, and there are also the capes of TROT-
TERNISH and VATTERNISH (water-ness). The first
portion of this name contains the characteristic Norse
word vatfty which appears in the names of no less than
ten of the Hebridean lakes — -as, for example, in those of
Lochs LANGAVAT and STEEPAVAT."
The Norsemen called the Hebrides the SUDREYJAR,
or Southern Islands. The two sees of the Sudreyjar and
of the Isle of Man were united in the eleventh century,
and made dependent on the Archbishop of Trondhjem,
in Norway, by whom, till the year 1334, the Episcopi
Sudorenses were always consecrated. The Anglican
Bishop of SODOR and Man still retains his titular supre-
macy over those " southern isles " which have so long been
under the pastoral care of a presbyterian Church.
In the south of Scotland the only Scandinavian settle-
ment on the mainland was in Dumfriesshire. Here we
find more than a dozen names with the suffix by, and
others ending in garths beck, and thwaite. In the neigh-
bouring counties of Kirkcudbright and Wigton there are
also a few outlying names of the same class.
The Isle of Man, which at one time formed a portion
of the kingdom of Norway, must have contained a
considerable Norwegian population, as appears from the
Norse names of the villages, such as COLBY, GREENABV,
DALBY, BALEBY, KIRBY, SULBY, and JURBY. On the
^ Innes, Orig, Par, vol. ii. p. 385.
2 lb. p. 376.
'In Iceland there are lakes called Langer-vatn, Apa-vatn, Groena-vatn,
Fiski-vatn, Torfa-vatn, Sand-vatn, &c. On Norse names in the Scottish
Isles, secWorsaae, Danes, pp. 218 — 276; Barry, Hist, of Orkney i^ p. 232.
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Sodor and Man. 1 73
coast we find the bays of PERWICK, FLESWICK, GREEN-
WICK, SANDWICK, ALDRICH, SODERICK, GARWICK, and
DRESWICK, the capes of LANGNESS and LITTLENESS,
and the islands of EYE, HOLM, the CALF, and RONALDS AY ;
while SNEEFELL (snow hill), the highest mountain in the
island, bears a pure Norwegian name.^ The distribution
of these Norse names is very noteworthy. It will be
seen by a reference to the coloured map that they are
confined mainly to the south of the island, a circumstance
for which I was at a loss to account, till I discovered the
historical fact that when Goddard of Iceland conquered
Man he divided the fertile southern portion among his
followers, while he left the natives in possession of the
northern and more mountainous region, where, conse-
quently, Celtic names still prevail.^
In the same way that the Danish names in England
are seen to radiate from the Wash, so the Norwegian
immigration seems to have proceeded from Morcambe
B^y and that part of the coast which lies opposite to the
Isle of Man. Cumberland, Westmoreland, Lancashire,
and Dumfriesshire contain a very considerable number
of Scandinavian names, but comparatively few of a
distinctively Danish cast. The lake district seems to
have been almost exclusively peopled by Celts and
Norwegians. The Norwegian suffixes, 'gilly -garth,
-haugh, 'thwaite^ -force^ and -fell, are abundant ; while
the Danish forms, -tliorpe and -toft, are almost unknown ;
and the Anglo-Saxon test-words, -ham, -ford, -worth, and
-ton, are comparatively rare.^
Of the other test-words we find ey in WALNEY and
^ See p. 5, supra ; and Worsaae, Danes, p. 279.
' Train, Isle of Man^ vol. i. p. 78.
* See pp. 158, 159, supra.
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174 ' ^'^^ Northmen,
FOULNEY,^ and holm in LINGHOLM and SILVERHOLM on
Windermere, and in RAMPSHOLME on Ulleswater. Ness
occurs in the names of BOWNESS, SHINBURNESS, SCAR
NESS, and FURNESS: — wick in KESWICK on Derwent-
water, and in BLOWICK on Ulleswater. The Norwegfian
word stackr, a columnar rock, was appropriately ap-
plied to the mountains which bear the names of STAKE,
the STICKS, PIKE o' STICKLE, and the HAY STACKS (the
high rocks).
More than 150 different personal names of the Icelandic
type are preserved in the local topography of the lake
district. According to the last census ^ there are now
only sixty-three surnames in Iceland, of which the
commonest are Kettle, Halle, Ormur, and Gils. In
Cumberland and Westmoreland these are preserved in
the local names, KETTLEWELL, HALLTHWAITE, ORMA-
THWAITE, and GELLSTONE, By far the most common
Christian names in Iceland are Olafur (borne by 992
persons), Einer (by ^7^\ and Bjarni (by 869). These
are found in ULVERSTON, ENNERDALE, and BARNEY-
HOUSE. We find the name of Hrani (now Rennie) in
RANSDALE, RAINSBARROW, and WRENSIDE ; Loki in
LOCKTHWAITE, LOCKHOLM, LOCKERBY, and LOCKER-
BARROW ; Buthar in BUTTERMERE, BUTTERHILL, and
BUTTERGILL ; Geit^ in gateswater, gatesgarth, and
GATESGILL ; and Skogul in SKEGGLES WATER.*
The Norse haugr, a sepulchral mound, is often found
in the names of mountains crowned by conspicuous
^ The suffix <7, which denotes a river as well as an island, appears in the
river names of the Greta, Liza, Wiza, Rotha, Bretha, Rathay, Calda, as
well as in the Ea, and the Eamont. See Ferguson, Northmen^ p. 113.
' Symington, Icdandy p. 182.
* Ferguson, Northnun in Cumberland^ pp. 105, 130.
* Ferguson, Northmen, pp. 128 — 135. See the Landnamaboky passim.
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The Lake District — Cheshire. 175
tumuli. The name of the old Viking who lies buried
here is often preserved in the first portion of such local
names. Thus, SILVER HOW, BULL HOW, SCALE HOW,
and BUTTEHLIP HOW, are, probably, the burial-places of
the forgotten heroes, Solvar, Boll, Skall, and Buthar
Lipr.
In Cheshire, with one remarkable local exception, we
find no vestiges of Norse colonists. But the spit of land
called the Wirral, between the Dee and the Mersey,
seems to have allured them by its excellent harbours,
and the protection afforded by its almost insular cha-
racter.* Here, in fact, we find geographical conditions
similar to those which gave rise to the two isolated
Norse colonies at the mouths of the Stour and the
Yare,^ and the result is no less remarkable. In this space
of about twelve miles by six there is scarcely a single
Anglo-Saxon name, while we find the Norse villages
of RABY, PENSBY, IRBY, FRANKBY, KIRBY, WHITBY, and
GREASBY. We find also the Norse names of SHOTWlCK,
HOLME, DALPOOL, HOWSIDE, BARNSTON, THORNTON,
THURSTANSTON, BIRKENHEAD, and the BACK Brook ;
and in the centre of the district is the village of THING-
WALL, a name which indicates the position of the meeting
place of the Thing, the assembly in which the little
colony of Northmen exercised their accustomed privileges
of local self-government*
The Vikings cruised around the coasts of North Wales,
but we find no trace of settlements. The names of the
* Fei^son, Northmen in Cumberland^ p. 55.
* We read of a large body of Scandinavian invaders who took refuge
here. Turner, Anglo-Saxons^ vol. t p. 397.
' See pp. 165, 166, supra.
4 See Chapter XII.
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1 ^(> The Northmm,
ORME'S 1 HEAD, the NORTH STACK, the SOUTH STACK,
FENWICK ROCK, the SKERRIES, and PRIESTHOLME,
show their familiar acquaintance with the dangerous
points on this rockbound coast ; while PORT DYN NOR-
WIG, the " Port of the Norway Man," near Bangor, may
probably indicate a haven which they frequented.
There is a curious exception to the broad assertion
that has been made ^ as to the non-existence of Norse
names to the south of Watling Street. The sea-rovers,
with infallible instinct, seem to have detected the best
harbour in the kingdom, and to have found shelter for
their vessels in the fjords of the Pembrokeshire coast
— the deep land-bound channels of MILFORD, HAVER-
FORD,^ WHITEFORD,* and SKERRYFORD, and the neigh-
bouring creeks of WATHWICK, LITTLE WICK, OXWICH,
HELWICK, GELLYSWICK, MOUSSELWICK, WICK HAVEN,
and MUGGLESWICK BAY. The dangerous rocks and
islands which fringe this coast likewise bear Norwegian
names; such are the STACK Rocks, STACKPOLE Head,
the STACK, PENYHOLT STACK, ST. BRIDE'S STACK, STACK
Island, SKOKHOLM Island, SKERRYBACK, SKERPOINT,
the NAZE, STRUMBLE Head, the WORM'S Head, NASH
(Naze) Point, and DUNGENESS (Dangemess). Most of
the names on the mainland are Celtic, but the neigh-
bouring islands bear the Norse names of CALDY (Cold
Island), BARRY (Bare Island), SULLY (Ploughed Island),
1 From the Norse <frmr^ a serpent. The Wurmshead in South Wales
presents the Saxonized form of the same word. In Stanfield's admirable
picture of this rock we seem to see the sea serpent raising its head and the
half of its huge length above the waves.
^ See p. 1 68, supra,
' Havenfjord. So there is a Hafnaf jord in Iceland.
* "Whiteford Sands show that the estuary of the Burry must hay received
from the Norsemen the appropriate name of Hvit-jjora,
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The Pembrokeshire Settlement 177
LUNDY (Grove Island), SKOKHOLM (Wooded Island),
DENNEY (Danes' Island), RAMSEY, SKOMER, BURRY
HOLMES, GATEHOLM, GRASSHOLM, FLATHOLM^ and
STEEPHOLM.
No less than twenty-four of the headlands on the
Pembrokeshire coast are occupied by camps, which we
may regard as the first beginning of a Scandinavian
occupation of the soil. Round the shores of Milford
Haven a little colony of permanent settlers was estalished
in the villages of FREYSTROP (Freysthorpe), STUDDA,
VOGAR, ANGLE, TENBY (Daneby), DERBY, HASGUARD,
FISHGUARD, DALE, LAMBETH, and WHITSAND. Of the
Vikings who founded this Welsh colony, Harold, Bakki,
Hamill, Grim, Hiarn, Lambi, Thomi, Thor, Gorm,
Brodor, Solvar, Hogni, and Buthar have left us their
names at HAROLDSTON, BUCKSTON, AMBLESTON, CREAM-
STON, HEARSTON, LAMBSTON, THORNSTON, THURSTAN,
G0MFRESTON,« BROTHER HILL, SILVER HILL, HONEY
HILL, and BUTTER HILL, several of which may be the
burial-places of those whose names they bear.®
There is, occasionally, in Pembrokeshire, a difficulty
in distinguishing between the Norse names and those
which are due to the colony of Flemings which was
established in this district during the reign of Henry I.
" Flandrenses, tempore Regis Henrici primi ... ad
occidentalem Walliae partem, apud Haverford, sunt
translati."* These colonists came from a portion of
1 A Urge body of Danes took refuge in Flatholm in the year 918. St
John, Four Conquests^ vol. i. p. 322.
' The last syllable in these names wonld seem not to be the Anglo-Saxon
ion^ but was probably derived from the memorial stone erected over the
grave of some departed hero.
' See Ferguson, NorthnuHy pp. 10^ 66, 68.
^ Higden's Ckronkle, apud Gale, Seriptores, voL iii. p. 21a
N
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1 78 The Northmen,
Flanders which was submerged by an irruption of the
sea in the year 1 1 10. LEWESTON, RICKESTON, ROBESTON,
ROGESTON, JOHNSTON, WALTERSTON, HERBRANDSTON,
THOMASTON, WILLIAMSTON, JAMESTON, and JEFFREYS-
TON belong to a class of names which we find nowhere
else in the kingdom — names given, not by Saxon or
Danish pagans, but by Christianized settlers, men bearing
the names, not of Thurstan, Gorm, or Grim, but of
Lewes, Richard, Robert, Walter, and others common in
the twelfth century.^ The names of the village of
FLEMINGSTON, and of the VIA FLANDRICA, which runs
along the crest of the Precelly mountains, afford ethno-
logical evidence still more conclusive, and TUCKING Mill
(Clothmaking Mill) shows the nature of the industry
which was imported.
This Pembrokeshire settlement was, probably, at first,
little more than a nest of pirates, who sallied forth to
plunder the opposite coast of the Channel, and to prey
upon any passing merchant craft. That the Somerset-
shire coast was not unknown to them we see from the
Norse names of WICK Rock at one entrance of Bridge-
water Bay, and HOW Rock at the other. The sands
which lie in the estuary of the Yeo are called Langford
grounds — an indication that this " long fiord " was
known to the Northmen by the appropriate name of
LANGFORD.
The chief port of Scilly bears the name of GRIMSBY,
and ST. AGNES, the name of the most southern island, is
a corruption of the old Norse name Hagenes. On the
mainland of Cornwall only one station of the North-
1 Sec Cliffc, South Wales^ p. 257; Lappenberg, Angh-Narman Kings,
p. 545; Giraldus Cambrensis, Itin, ]ib. i. cap. ii; and the notes of
H. LIuyd, Camden, and Sir R. C. Hoare upon the passage.
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Devonshire. I79
men can be discovered, but the position is admirably
adapted for refitting ships, and obtaining necessary sup-
plies. Near the Lizard Point a deep inlet bears the
name of HELFORD, and the village at its head is called
GWEEK, evidently a corruption of Wick.^
In Devonshire there are two or three clusters of Norse
names. These present the characteristic suffix by in
a form nearly approaching to the old Norse form byr^
which is preserved in the boer of the Icelandic farms.^
In North Devon we find ROCKBEER and BEAR, both in
the neighbourhood of the fjord of bideford. On the
left bank of the estuary of the Exe,^ in South Devon,
we have another cluster of such names, comprising
the villages of AYLESBERE, ROCKBERE, LARKBEER, and
HOUNDBERE. We find also 'byestock and thorp,
EXWICK and COWICK, the NESS at Teignmouth, the
SKERRIES close by, and a place called NORMANS (i.e.
Northman's) CROSS. Here a portion of the Roman road
to Exeter takes the Danish name STRAIGHTGATE. The
Northmen penetrated up the estuary of the Tamar as
well as up that of the Exe. In the Saxon Chronicle
(a.D. 997) we read of a descent of the Danes at Lidford ;
and in this neighbourhood we find LANGABEER, BEARDON,
BEER ALSTON, BEARON, BEER FERRERS, DINGWELL,
and THURSHELTON, as well as BURN and BEARA (byr
water), both on the banks of brooks. At the mouth of
1 See the review of the ist edition of Words and Places in the Times o
March 26, 1864.
* E,g. Ossaboer, in Iceland. In Essex and Suffolk we find Buers and
Bures. See p. 157, supra. .
> On the numerous Danish incursions into Devonshire see Strinnholm,
JVikinffsiige, p. 57; Turner, Anglo-Saxons, vol. i. pp. 542, 591, 601 j
vol. ii. pp. 306^ 312, 317. In 877 the Danes were in possescsion of Exeter.
St John, Four Conquests^ vol I p. 266.
N 2
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1 80 The Northmen,
the Otter, again/ we find the villages of BEER, BERE-
WOOD, and BOVY2 in beer. Near Poole Harbour^ we
have East HOLME, BERE Regis, and SWANWICK. There
was another Swanwick on Southampton Water, which
has been corrupted to SWAN AGE. In the Saxon Chronicle
(A.D. 877) we read of the defeat of a Danish fleet at
Swanawic on the south coast ; and it has beea con-
jectured, with some probability, that a chief bearing the
common Danish name of Sweyn may have been in
command, from whom we derive the name of " Sweyn's
Bay."* SWANTHORPE, IBTHROP, and EDMUNDSTHROP,
all in Hampshire, exhibit the suffix which is so charac-
teristic of Danish settlements. At holmsdale, in
Surrey, we find an isolated Danish name. At this spot
the crews of 350 ships, who had marched inland, were
cut off by Ethelwulf, in the year 852,* and it is probable
that the survivors may have settled in the neighbour-
hood. Further to the north we find THORPE, near
Chertsey. There seem to be traces of the Danes at
BERWICK and seaford near Beachy Head, and at HOLM-
STONE * and WICK in Romney Marsh, as well as at the
point of DUNGENESS, or " Danger Cape." Finally, we
1 The Danes landed at Seaton in 937. See Saxon ChromcU.
' This approximates to the Norman form bomf. See pp. 157, 186.
s We frequently read of Danish descents in Dorset See Turner, Anglo-
Saxons^ vol. ii. pp. 306, 312 ; Strinnholm, Wikingziigty p. 55 ; St John,
Four Conquests^ vol. L p. 443.
* See Cough's Camden^ vol. i. p. 329. Sweyn was a common Danish
name. There are three swantons in Norfolk. At swanescomb, near
Greenhithe, there are several barrows ; and here, it has been thought,
Sweyn, king of Denmark, landed.
* St John, Four Coftquests, voL i. p. 227. Cf. Turner, Angio-Saxons^
vol. i. p. 590.
* Here a battle was fought between Danes and Saxons. The Danes had
a fortress in Romney Marsh. Turner, Angh-Saxons^ yoL i. p. 387.
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Ireland, i8r
find them on the Kentish coast at SANDWICH, the sandy-
bay — a name which occurs also in Iceland, in Norway,
in the Orkneys, in the Hebrides, and in the Shetlands.
Sandwich in Kent was one of the favourite stations for
the Danish fleets ; they were there in the years 851 and
1014, as we learn from the Saxon Chronicle.
The Northmen would appear to have established
themselves in Ireland rather for purposes of trade
than of colonization. Their ships sailed up the great
fjords^ of WATERFORD, WEXFORD,^ STRANGFORD, and
CARLINGFORD, and anchored in the bays of LIMERICK
and WICKLOW. In Kerry we find the name of SMER-
WICK, or "butter bay," then apparently, as now, a
trading station for the produce of the surrounding dis-
trict The name of COPLAND Island, near Belfast,
shows that here was a trading station of the Norse mer-
chants, who trafficked in English slaves* and other
merchandize. 'As we approach Dublin the numerous
Norse names along the coast — LA^BAY* I§land, DALKEY
Island, -Ireland's EYE, the SKERRIES, the Hill of HOWTH,
and LEIXLIP, the " salmon leap," on the Liffey — prepare
us to learn that the Scandinavians in Publin were go-
verned by their own laws till the thirteenth century, and
that, as in London, they had their own separate quarter
of the city, guarded by walls and gates — OXMANTOWN,
that is, Ostmantown, the town of the men from the
East* ...
The general geographical acquaintance which the
1 To the south of Wexford is the Barony of FORTH (fjord).
* See Goldwin Smith, Irish History and Irish Character, p. 48.
' Worsaae, Danes and Norwegians, pp. 323, 349. The Ostmen pos-
sessed the four cities of Dublin, Waterford, Limerick, and Cork. There
were Ostman kings of Limerick, Dublin, and Waterford. Lappenberg,
Anglo-Norman Kings, p. 64; Strinnholm, Wikingziige, p. 57.
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1 82
The Northmen.
Northmen had with the whole of Ireland is shown by
the fact that three out of the four Irish provinces,
namely, LEINSTER, MUNSTER, and ULSTER, present
the Norse suffix ster^ a place, which is so common in local
names in the Shetlands and in Norway.^
In order to estimate with some exactitude the pro-
portionate amount of the Scandinavian element in the
different parts of England, the following table has been
carefully compiled. It gives the proportion of Norse
names to the acreage of the several counties-^the
proportion in Kent being taken as the unit of compu-
tation. The names in those counties which are printed
in italics exhibit a Norwegian rather than a Danish
character.
Intensity of the Scandinavian element of population,
as indicated by village names : —
Lancashire • • • • 28
Durham 30
West Riding "... 60
Nottingham . • • . 62
Norfolk 76
Northampton ... 83
Rutland 83
North Riding ... 11 1
Cumberland .... 124
Westmoreland . . • 125
East Riding .... 126
Lincolnshire . • . 165
Leicestershire • . . 169*
The actual number of names is — in Lincolnshire,
about 300; in Leicestershire, Westmoreland, Cumber*
1 See p. 170^ si^a.
* In several particulars this table will be found to differ from that given by
Mr. Worsaae, Danes and Norwegiansy p. 71.
I, I have excluded sufl&xes common to the Anglo-Saxon and the Noise
languages. 2. I have
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Kent
I
Glamorgan . • • .
I
Hants
4
Essex
5
Warwick
5
Bucks
6
Cheshire
8
Devon
9
Suffolk
10
Bedford
13
Pembroke ....
IS
Northumberland . .
15
Derbyshire ....
16
\
Relative Intensity of the Scandinavian Element, 1 83\
\
\
land, and each of the Ridings about lOo; in Norfolk, v
Northampton, Notts, and Lancashire, about 50 ; in Dur- >
ham and Northumberland, about 20 ; in Suffolk, Derby,
Cheshire, Rutland, and Pembroke, about a dozen ; in
Bucks, Bedford, and Warwick, not more than half that
number.
From the character of the Norse names upon the map
of the British Isles, we may class the districts affected by
Scandinavian influence under three general divisions : —
I. Places visited only for trade or booty. These fringe
the coast, and are the names of bays, capes, or islands.
The surrounding villages have Saxon or Celtic names.
To this class belong, mostly, the names along the
estuaries of the Thames and Severn, and along the
coasts of Kent, Sussex, Essex, North Wales, Ireland, and
Eastern Scotland.
II. Isolated settlements amid a hostile population.
These are found in places which are nearly surrounded
by water, and which are furnished with good harbours.
In this class we must include the settlements near Har-
wich, Yarmouth, Birkenhead, and Milford.
III. The Danelagh or Danish kingdom, where the
Norse element of the population was predominant Yet
2. I baye excluded names on the coast not denoting colonization.
3. I have calculated the proportion of names to the acreage of each
county, instead of giving the absolute number of names.
The latter mode of computation is deceptive. An example will make
this plain. From Mr. Worsaae's table it appears that the Scandinavian
names in Lincolnshire, a very large county, are three times as numerous as
those in Leicestershire, a much smaller one, whereas, in reality, the Norse
element is actually less intense in Lincolnshire than it is in Leicestershire.
In fact, portions of Lincolnshire are almost destitute of Norse names : for
example, the Fens, which in their nomenclature are neither Saxon nor
Danish, but English, having been reclaimed at a period when the distinction
between Dane and Saxon had died away. See the coloured map.
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1 84 T}ie Northmen,
even here the names are clustered, rather than uniformly
distributed. Such clusters of names are to be found
near Stamford, Sleaford, Horncastle, Market Rasen,
Melton Mowbray, Leicester, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, New-
ark, Lincoln, Grimsby, York, and Bridlington.
The Scandinavians who settled in France have left
few memorials of their speech in our French dictionaries
— few permanent conquests have had so slight an in-
fluence on the language of the conquered nation. The
conquerors married native women, and their sons seem
only to have learned the language spoken by their
mothers ; so that, except in the neighbourhood of
Bayeux, where the Norman speech was grafted on the
nearly-related and firmly-established language of the
Saxon shore, the sons of the soil at no time spoke a
Scandinavian dialect.^ But the map of Normandy sup-
plies abundant traces of the Scandinavian conquest.
The accompanying sketch-map shows the distribution
1 A few Norse words still survive in the dialect of Nonnandy. Thus
we have —
In Nonnandy.
In Iceland.
davre.
dagverdr.
breakfast
fikke.
iicki.
pocket.
grande.
granni.
neighbour.
giW.
gildr.
clever.
feig.
feigr.
dying.
kaud.
koL
cottage.
These are not the terms used either in French or Danish. The French
expressions would be dejeiiner, poche, voisin, habile, moribond, and cabane;
and the modem Danish would be frokost, lomme, nabo, tlink, dodsens, and
hytte. See Etienne Borring, Sur la Limite Miridionale de la ATonarchU
Da noise, p. 4. In modem French there are a few nautical terms of Danish
origin. See Diez, Kom, Gram, vol. i. p. 51. Cf. Max Miiller, Lectures,
2nd series, p. 264.
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£^ TOT
XB EUF
40
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The Northmen in France. 185
of these names, and, as has been already observed, it
proves how carefully the Scandinavians avoided all
encroachment on the district already occupied by Saxon
colonists.
We find the names of the original Scandinavian
settlers are thickly scattered over the land. We have
seen that in England the former abodes of the North-
men— Grim, Biorn, Harold, Thor, Guddar, and Haco ^ —
go by the names of Grimsby, Bumthwaite, Harroby,
Thoresby, Guttersby, and Hacconby : so in Normandy
these 3ame personal appelations occur in the village-
names, and we find GRIMONVILLE, BORNEVILLE, HEROU-
VILLE, TOURVILLE, GODARVILLE, HACONVILLE, and
HACQUEVILLE.*
The Norse gardr^ an inclosure, or yard, occurs in Nor-
mandy at FISIGARD, AUPPEGARD, and EPEGARD —
names which we may compare with Fishguard in Pem-
brokeshire, Applegarth in Yorkshire, and iEblegaard in
Denmark. Tofty which also means an inclosure, takes
the form tot in Normandy, as in YVETOT, Ivo*s toft;
PLUMETOT, flower toft ; lilletot, little toft ; ROUTOT,
Rodtot, or red toft ; CRIQUETOT, crooked toft ; BERQUE-
TOT, birch toft; HAUTOT, high toft; LANGETOT, long
toft We have also Pr^tot, Tournetot, Bouquetot,
Grastot, Appetot, Garnetot, Ansetot, Turretot, He-
bertot, Cristot, Brestot, Franquetot, Raffetot, Houdetot,
and others, about one hundred in all. Toft being a
Danish * rather than a Norwegian suffix, would incline
1 AU these names are found in the Landnamahok of I<;eland.
* See Depping, vol. ii. p. 339; Palgrave, voL i. p. 702; Ferguson,
p. 128 ; AVoTsaae, p. 69 ; Gerville ; Petersen. This suffix vUU has been
usually supposed to be the Romance word vUlci, It is far more probable,
however, that it is the Teutonic weiUr, a single house. See p. 159, supra.
' Moreover, in Denmark we often find combinations identical with some
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1 86 The Northmen^
us to suppose, from its frequent occurrence, that the
conquerors of Normandy were Danes rather than Nor-
wegians ; and the total absence of thwaitey the Norw^ian
test-word, tends to strengthen this supposition.
The suffix by^ so common in Danish England, gene-
rally takes, in Normandy, the form bcBuf, bufy or bue,
as in the cases of CRIQUEBUF (Crogby, or crooked-by),
MARBCEUF (Markby), QUITTEBEUF (Whitby, or white-
by), DAUBEUF (Dale-by), CARQUEBUF (Kirkby), QUILLE-
BEUF (Kil-byl), ELBCEUF, PAINBEUF, and LINDEBEUF.
The form bufy or basuf, seems very remote from the old
Norse boer; but a few names ending in btie, such as
LONGBUE and 'roURNEBUE,^ and still more the village
of BURES, exhibit the transitional forms through which
the names in buf may probably have passed. HAMBYE
and COLOMBY are the only instances of the English form
which I can find.
The village of LE TORP gives us the word thorpe^
which, however, more usually appears in the cor-
rupted form of torbcy tourf, or tourbey as in the case of
CLITOURPS.*
The name of the castle-crowned rock of FALAISE
reminds us of \h^ fells of Cumberland.*
The name of the river DIEPPE, which was afterwards *
given to the town which was built beside it, is iden-
tical with that of the Diupa, or **deep water" in
of those just enumerated. Such are Blumtofte, Rodtofte, Langetofte, and
Grastofte. See Le Prevost, Recherchts^ pp. 41, 64.
1 Norse kdlda^ German quelU, a well or river-source. La Roquette,
Reckenkes^ p. 46 ; Ferguson, Nortknun^ p. 1 19.
' Cf. Taamby, in Denmark.
» See Leo, An^Saxon NameSy pp. 43 — 50. Cf. the German yS/sryi.
* Petersen, p. 49.
' In the tenth century.
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Normandy. 187
Iceland ; and it may be compared with " The Deeps "
near Boston.^
From the Norse beckr (Danish bcsc), a brook, we have
CAUDEBEC, the " cold brook," the same name as that of
the Cawdbeck in the Lake District, and the Kaldbakr
in Iceland. The name of the BRIQUEBEC, the ** birch-
fringed brook," is the same as that of the Birkbeck in
Westmoreland. The HOULBEC, the "brook in the
hollow," corresponds to the Holbeck in Lincolnshire,
anO the Holbek in Denmark. The name of bolbec we
may compare with Bolbek in Denmark ; and the name
of FOULBEC, or " muddy brook," is identical with that of
the Fulbeck in Lincolnshire.
The Danish 0, an island, is seen in Eu, Cantaleu,
Jersey, Guernsey, and Aldemey.
The suffix 'Jleur^ which we find in HONFLEUR and
other names, is derived from the Norse Jliot, ^ a small
river or channel, which we have in Purfleet, Northfleet,
and many other English names. The phonetic resem-
blance between Jleur 2XiA fleet may seem slight, but the
identification is placed beyond a doubt by the fact
that HARFLEUR was anciently written Herosfluet ; while
Rqger de Hovenden calls BARFLEUR by the name of
Barbeflet, and Odericus Vitalis calls it Barbeflot. VITTE-
FLEUR is the "white river," and FIQUEFLEUR seems to
be a corruption of Wickfleet, " the river in the bay." *
Holme, a river island, appears in the names of TUR-
^ Palgrave^ Normandy and England^ vol ii. p. Ill; La Roquette,
P-55-
^ Danish yS<«/, English /Wl See Petersen, Recherches^ p. 38 ; Depping,
ExpAliiicnSt vol. ii. p. 341.
s Havre may be either from the Norse hif/n^ a haven, or from the Celtic
aber, a river's mouth. See Adelung, MithridaUs^ vol. ii. p. 41 ; Diefen-
bach, Celikoj i. p. 23,
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1 88 The Northmen.
HULME, NIHOU,^ and LE HOULME, near Rouen. Cape
de la HOGUE, Cape HOC, and Cape le HODE, may be
compared with the Cape near Dublin, called the Hill of
Howth. This is the old Norse haugr^ a sepulchral
mound, the same word which appears in the haugJts of
Northumberland. LES DALLES, OUDALES, CRODALE,
CROIXDAL, DANESTAL, DEPEDAL, DIEPPEDAL, DARNE-
TAL, and BRUQUEDALLE, remind us of the dales of
Westmoreland and the North Riding.
ESCOVES * seems to be the Icelandic skogVy and corre-
sponds to the English shaw^ a wood, or shady place.
BosCy a wood, or bushy place, is a very common suffix in
Normandy, as in the names VERBOSC, bricquebosq,
and BANDRIBOSC. Holty a wood, occurs in the name
TERHOULDE, or Theroude.^ The Calf of Man is re-
peated in LE CAUF.*
Beyond the district of Norse colonization we have a
few scattered names of bays and capes, indicating occa-
sional visits of the Vikings. Such are Cape GRINEZ, or
Greyness, near Calais ; WYK in Belgium ; QUANTOVIC ;
VIGO Bay in the North of Spain,^ arid possibly VICO in
the bay of Naples. The BERLINGAS, a group of rocky
islets forty miles north-west of Lisbon, would appear,
from the name, to have been a station of the North-
1 Granted to one Niel, or Njal, A.D. 920. Gerville, Noms^ p. 229 ; La
Roquette, p. 48.
* Petersen, p. 50.
• Petersen, p. 50 ; Depping, vol. ii. p. 344.
^ On the Norse names in Normandy, see Depping, Expiditums Maritimes
des Normands^ vol. ii. pp. 339 — ^342 ; Lappenberg, England under the
Anglo-Norman KingSy pp. 97 — 100; Borring, Sur la LimiU Miridianale
de la Monarchie Danoise: and the essays of Palgrave ; Petersen; La
Roquette ; Le Prevost ; Gerville ; and Latham.
' A Danish fleet was destroyed at Compostella. Strinnholm, Wikingzugey
vol. i. pp. 144, 145 ; Depping, vol. i. p. no.
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The Northmen in Sicily. 189
men.^ HASTINGUES, a river-island near Bayonne, probably
takes its name from the renowned Viking Hasting, who
was long the terror of France, Spain, and Italy, * and the
He de BIERE in the Loire was no doubt so called from
the huts which the Danes erected upon it for the accom-
modation of their prisoners.*
SCARANOS, on the southern coast of Sicily, * is an
almost solitary memorial of the visits of the Vikings to
the Mediterranean.^ With this name we may compare
those of Scarnose on the coast of Banff, Scarness in
Cumberland, and Sheemess on the Thames. The SKERKI
rocks, also on the Sicilian coast,, may not improbably
have received from the Northmen the name of the
Skerries, or Scar Isles, which was so frequently given to
similar dangerous needles of sea-washed rock.
The most easterly Norse name is KIBOTUS (Cheve-
tot), near Helenopolis, on the Hellespont. Here was
the station of the Vaeringer, or Varangian guard of the
Byzantine Emperors, who were afterwards reinforced by
the Ingloi, or Saxon refugees, who fled from the Norman
conquerors.*
The Norman conquest of England has left few traces
' This patronymic is fonnd on the Baltic coast, in Friesland, and in
England, sec p. 151, supra.
• Crichton, Scandinavia^ vol. I p. 166 ; Strinnholm, Wikingziige, vol. i.
p. 26 ; Depping, Expiditions des Normands, vol. L pp. 122, 132.
' See Strinnholm, WikingtUge, vol. i p. 34.
< On the exploits of the Northmen in Sicily, see the Saga of Harold
Haidiida, in Laing's Heimskringia^ vol. iii. p. 7.
• Talbot, English Etymologies, p. 376.
• See Lappenbeig, Anglo-Norman Kings, p. 114. We find the name
of these Warings, or Varangians, at varengefjord in Norway, varenge-
viLLE in Normandy, wibringerwaard on the coast of Holland, and at
many places in England. See p. 129, supra. On the etymology of the
name see Strinnholm, WikingtUge, voL i pp. 301, 312.
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\ go The Northmen .
on the map. There was in no sense any coloniza**
tion, as in the case of the previous Saxon and Danish
invasions; nor was there even such a general trans-
ference of landed property as took place in Normandy,
and which is there so fully attested by the local
names. The companions of the Conqueror were but a
few thousands in number, and they were widely dis-
persed over the soil. A few Norman-French names,
however, may be still pointed to as memorials of the
conquest^ Of these RICHMOND* in Yorkshire, and
MONTGOMERY * on the Welsh border, are the most con-
spicuous. At MALPAS was a castle built by the first
Norman Earl of Chester to guard the " bad pass " into
the valley of the Dee.* MONTFORD, or Montesfort, in
Shropshire, and MOLD in Flintshire, anciently Mont-
hault * (Mons Altus) were also frontier fortresses ; MONT-
ACUTE Hill, in Somerset, has Mortaine's Norman castle
on its summit, and a Norman abbey at its foot The
commanding situation of BELVOIR castle justifies its
Norman name. At BEAUMONT* near Oxford, was a
palace of the Norman kings ; and at FLESHY (plaisir) in
Essex, the seat of the High Constables of England, the
^ The only Anglo-Nonnan su£Bixes seem to be clere^ manor^ and courts as
in HIGHCLERE, BEAUMANOIR, and HAMPTON COURT. We have also a few
names like chester-le-street, bolton-le-moor, and laughton-en-I£-
MORTHEN.
' Thierry, Conquest, p. 90. Henry IV. transferred to his Surrey palace
the name of his Yorkshire earldom.
* The same story is told in another language by the Welsh name of
Montgomery— Tre-faldwyn, or Baldwin's Town. See Borrow, Wild WaUs^
vol. iii. p. 97.
^ Ormerod, Hist of Chester^ voL ii. p. 328 ; Chamock, Local Elymol.
p. 173.
* Cambro-Britoftf voL i. p. 136.
* Cough's Camden, voL ii. p. 21.
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Vestiges of the Norman Conquest 19I
ruins of the Noraian ke6p are still visible.^ BEAUCHAMP-
OTTON,near Castle Hedingham, bears the name of Ottone,
the skilful goldsmith who fashioned the tomb of the
Conqueror at Caen.* We find the Norman abbeys of
RlEVAUX and JORVEAUX in Yorkshire, BFAULIEU in
Hampshire, DELAPRE in Northamptonshire, -^nd the
Augustinian Priory of GRACEDIEU in Leicestershire,
The Norman family of St. Clare, or Clarence, has be-
stowed its name upon an English town, an Irish county,
a royal dukedom, and a Cambridge college.* We have
the names of Norman barons at STOKE-MANDEVILLE,
CARLTON-COLVILE, MINSHALL-VERNON, ASHBY-DE-LA-
ZOUCH, NEWPORT-PAGNELL, BURY-POMMEROYE, ASTON-
CANTELOUPE, STOKE-PIROU, ACTON-TURVILLE, and
NEVILLEHOLT. The names of HURST MONCEAUX,
HURST PIERPOINT, and HURST COURTRAY all occur
in the county of Sussex, where the Conqueror landed,
and where the actual transfer of estates seems to have
taken place to a greater extent than in other counties.
Sussex is the only English county which is divided into
rapes, as well as into hundreds or wapentakes. While
the hundred seems to indicate the peaceful settlements
of Saxon families, and the wapentake the defensive mili-
tary organization of the Danish intruders, the rape, as it
would appear, is a memorial of the violent transference
of landed property by the Conqueror — the lands being
plotted out for division by the hr^, or rope, just as they
^ Gougli's Camden, vol. ii. pp. 121, 133.
' Palgrave, Normandy and England^ voL iv. p. 2. '
' See Donaldson, English Ethnography, p. 60 ; Yonge, Christian Names,
vol. L p. 385. The Clarenceaux King-at-Arms had jurisdiction over the
Surroys, or men south of the Trent, and the Norroys* king over those to
the north of that river.
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192 The Northmen.
had been by Rolf in Normandy. Illam terram (Nor-
mandy) suis fidelibus funiculo divisit.^
There are some curious memorials of that influx of
Anglo-Norman nobles into Scotland which took place
during the reigns of David I. and Malcolm Canmore. In
ancient records the name of Maxwell is written in the
Norman form of Maccusville. The name of Robert de
Montealt has been corrupted into Mowatt and MOFFAT ;
and the families of Sinclair, Fraser, Baliol^ Bruce, Camp-
bell, Colville, Somerville, Grant (le Grand), and Fleming,
are all, as their names bear witness, of continental an-
cestry.* Richard Waleys — that is, Richard the Foreigner
— ^was the ancestor of the great Wallace, and has left his
name at RICHARDTUN in Ayrshire. The ancestor of the
Maule family has left his name at Maleville, or MEL-
VILLE, in Lothian. SETON takes its name from a Nqr-
man adventurer called Say. TANKERTON, in Clydesdale,
was the fief of Tancard, or Tancred, a Fleming who
came to Scotland in the reign of Malcolm IV. And a
few village names like INGLISTON, NORMANTON, and
FLEMINGTON, afford additional evidence of the exten-
sive immigration of foreign adventurers which was
encouraged by the Scottish kings.
1 Dudo, De Moribus Norm, Ducum, apud Duchesne, Hist Norm, ScripL
p. 85. The districts of Iceland are called Hreppar. The hyde, the Saxon
unit of land, seems to have been a portion measured off with a thimg^ as
the rape was with a rop€. See Palgrave, Normandy and England^ vol. i.
p. 692; voL iii. p. 395; Robertson, Early Kings^ vol. ii. p. 213.
' See Buchanan, Scottish Surnames^ pp. 42, 43 ; Palgrave, Normandy
and England^ voL iii. Appendix, and vol. iv. p. 298 ; Dugdale, Chalmers,
and the Charters. Skene, History of the Highlanders^ voL il p. 280, &c.,
attempts to disprove the supposed Norman origin of the Campbells aad
other Scottish families. He admits, however, the case of the Grants ;
vol. ii. p. 255.
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The Celts. 193
CHAPTER IX.
THE CELTS,
Prevalerue of Celtic Names in £urope— Antiquity of River-names— The roots
Avon, Dur, Stour, Esk, Rhe, and Don— Myth of the Danaides— Hybrid
composition, and reduplication of synonyms — AdjectrvcU river-names : the
Yare, Alne, Ban, Douglas, Leven, Tame, Aire, Cam, and Clyde— Celtic
mountain-nantes : cefn, pen, cenn, dun — Names of Rocks — Valleys — Lakes
—Dwellings — Cymric and Gadhdic test-words — Celts in GalcUia — Celts in
Germany, France, and Spain — Euskarian Names — Gradual retrocession
of Celts in England^Amount of the Celtic element — Division of Scotland
between the Pictsand Gaels — Inver and Aber — Ethnology of the Isle
of Man.
Europe has been peopled by successive immigrations
from the East. Five great waves of population have
rolled in, each in its turn urging the flood which had
preceded it further and further toward the West. The
mighty Celtic inundation is the first which we can dis-
tinctly trace in its progress across Europe, forced on-
ward by the succeding deluges of the Romance, Teu-
tonic, and Sclavonic peoples, till at length it was driven
forward into the far western extremities of Europe.
The Celts were divided into two gfreat branches, which
followed one another on their passage across Europe.
Both branches spoke languages of the same stock, but
distinguished by dialectic differences as great or greater
than those which divide Greek from Latin, or English
from German. There are living tongues belonging to
O
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194 T^he Celts.
each of these branches. The first, or Gadhelic branch,
is now represented by the Erse of Ireland, the Gaelic of
the Scotch Highlands, and the Manx of the Isle of
Man ; the second, or Cymric, by the Welsh of Wales,
and the Brezonec or Armorican of Brittany, which is
still spoken by a million and a half of Frenchmen,^
Although both of these branches of the Celtic speech
now survive only in the extreme corners of western
Europe, yet, by the evidence of local names, it may be
shown that they prevailed at one time over a great part
of the continent of Europe, before the Teutonic and
Romance nations had expelled or absorbed the once
dominant Celts. In the geographical nomenclature of
Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain, and England,
we find a Celtic substratum underlying the superficial
deposit of Teutonic and Romance names. These Celtic
roots form the chief available evidence on which we can
rely when investigating the immigrations of the Celtic
peoples.
We shall now proceed to adduce a few fragments of
the vast mass of evidence which has been collected by
numerous industrious explorers, and which seems to
justify them in their belief as to the wide extension of
the Celtic race at some unknown prehistoric period.
One class of local names is of special value in investi-
gations relating to primaeval history. The river-names,
more particularly the names of important rivers, are
everywhere the memorials of the very earliest races.-
These river-names survive where all other names have
^ Diefenbach, Celtica^ ii. part ii. p. 162 ; Meyer, in Bunsen's Philos, of
Univ. History ^ vol. i. p. 14$.
« See Forstemann, in Kuhn*s Zeitschrift fur Vet^. Spn vol. ix. p. 284 ;
Monkhouse, Etymologies ^ -p. 64; Miiller, Markend, Vaierl, p. 124; Scfaott,
Deut. Col. p. 218.
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River-Nu^Hes. 195
(Changed — ^they seem to possess an almost indestructible
vitality. Towns may be destroyed, the sites of human
habitation may be removed, but the ancient river-names
are handed down from race to race ; even the names of
the eternal hills are less permanent than those of rivers.
Over the greater part of Europe — in Germany,^ France,
Italy, Spain — we find villages which bear Teutonic or
Romance names, standing on the banks of streams which
still retain their ancient Celtic appellations. Throughout
the whole of England there is hardly a single river-name
which is not Celtic. By a reference to the map prefixed
to this volume it will be seen that those districts of our
island which are dotted thickly with Anglo-Saxon and
Scandinavian village-names, are traversed everywhere by
red lines, which represent the rivers whose names are
now almost the sole evidence that survives of a once
universal Celtic occupation of the land.
The Celtic words which appear in the names of rivers
may be divided into two classes. The first may be called
the substantival class, and the second the adjectival.
The first class consists of ancient words which mean
simply water or river. At a time when no great inter-
communication existed, and when books and maps were
unknown, geographical knowledge must have been
very slender. Hence whole tribes were acquainted with
only one considerable river, and it sufficed, therefore, to
call it " The Water," or " The River." Such terms were
not at first regarded as proper names ; in many cases
they only became proper names on the advent of a con-
quering race. To take an example — the word afon.
This is the usual Welsh term for a river. On a map of
1 Almost every river-name in Germany is Celtic. Leo, Vorlesungen^
voL i, p. 198; Zeuss, Gram, Celt, voL ii. p. 760.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
196 The Celts.
Wales we find at Bettws-y-Coed the "Afon LIugwy,"
or, as it is usually called by English tourists, the " River
LIugwy." So also at Dolwyddelen we find the Afon
Lledr, or River Lledr, and the Afon Dulas and the Afon
Dyfi at Machynlleth. In England, however, the word
avon is no longer a common name as it is in Wales, but has
become a proper name. We have a River AVON which
flows by Warwick -and Stratford, another River AVON
flows past Bath and Bristol, and elsewhere there are
other rivers of the same name, which will presently be
enumerated. The same process which has converted the
word afon from a common name into a proper name has
also taken place with other words of the same class.
There is, in fact, hardly a single Celtic word meaning
stream, current, brook, channel, water, or flood, which
does not enter largely into the river-names of Europe.
The second class of river-names comprises those which
may be called adjectival. The Celtic words meaning
rough, gentle, smooth, white, black, yellow, crooked,
broad, swift, muddy, clear, and the like, are found in the
names of a large proportion of European rivers. For
example, the Celtic word garw, rough, is found in the
names of the GARRY, the YARE, the YARROW, and the
GARONNE.
We may now proceed to enumerate some of the more
important names which belong to either class.
I. Avon. This, as we have seen, is a Celtic word
meaning " a river." It is written aon in the Manx lan-
guage, and abhainn (pronounced avain) in Gaelic We
find also the ancient forms amhain^ and auwon. This
1 Cognate to the Latin amnis. Ultimately a/on is to be referred to the
Sanskrit root ap^ water, which we see in the names of the Punj-o^, or land
of the **five rivers;" the Do-o^, the district between the "two rivers,"
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River-Names — Avon, 197
word has become a proper name in the case of numerous
rivers in England, Scotland, France, and Italy. The
Stratford AVON flows through Warwickshire and Wor-
cestershire. The Bristol AVON divides the counties of
Gloucester and Somerset. The Little AVON, also in
Gloucestershire, runs near Berkeley Castle. One Hamp-
shire AVON flows past Salisbury to Christchurch, another
enters the sea at Lymington. We also have rivers called
AVON or EVAN in the counties of Devon, Monmouth,
Glamorgan, Lanark, Stirling, Banff", Kincardine, Dum-
fries, and Ross. We find the IVE in Cumberland^ the
ANNE in Clare, and an INN in Fife and in the Tyrol.
The AUNE in Devon keeps close to the pronunciation of
the Celtic word. The AUNEY, in the same county, is the
Celtic diminutive " Little Avon," which we find also in
the EWENNY in Glamorgan, the EVENENY in Forfar, the
INNEY in Cornwall, and the ANEY in Meath. The AWE
in Argyll, and the EHEN in Cumberland, are probably
corrupted forms of the word Avon.
We find it in composition in the AVEN-GORM in Sligo,
the AVEN- BANNA in Wexford, the BAN-ON in Pembroke-
shire, the AVEN-BUI in Cork, the AVEN-MORE in Mayo
and Sligo, and the ANTON in Hampshire, as well, possibly,
as in the case of the d-ove,i the T-OWY, the T-aff, the
T-AVY, the T-AW, and the D-EE, anciently the V>eva?
A very large number of French river-names^ contain the
Ganges and Jumna ; as well as in the river-names of the Z-ab^ and of the
Dan-»^-ius, or Dan-i/^-e.
^ Compare the name of the Dovebridge over the Avon.
s This initial d ox t may be a fragment of an ancient preposition, as will
be shown below, p. 209, infra. These names are more probably to be
referred to the Welsh dof gentle ; or dyfi^ smooth.
> There are some remarks on the Celtic river-names of France in a paper
by Kennedy, in Philological Trans, for 1855, p. 166; Betham, Gae\ pp.
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198 The Celts,
root afon. In Brittany we find the AFF, and two streams
called AVEN. There are two streams called AVON in the
river system of the Loire, and two in that of the Seine.
The names of the chief French rivers often contain a
fragment — sometimes only a single letter — of this root,
which may, however, be identified by a comparison of
the ancient with the modem name. Thus, the Matr^^ia
is now the Mar«e, the Ax^wa is the Ais«e, the Sequ^wa
is the Sei«e, the -4«tura is the Eure, the Iscauna, is the
Yonne, the Sauc^«a is the Sa<7«e, the Meduana is the
Mayenne, the Dura«ius is the Dord^^^e, the Garumna, is
the Garonne, The names of an immense number of the
smaller French streams end in on, onne, or one, which is
probably a corruption of the root a/on. In the depart-
ment of the Vosges, for instance, we find the Madon, the
Durbi^;/, the Angronne, and the NoXogne, In the depart-
ment of the Alpes-basses we have the Verd^«, the Jabr^w,
the Auoft, the Calavon, and the ^\€one. In the depart-
ment of the Ain there are the Loud^«, the Sevr^«, the
Solvaany and the Aift. Elsewhere we have the Avetine^
the yUaine, the Yienne, the Arnon, the Ausonne, the
Odon, the lion, the Sevan, the Aveyron, the Roscod^«,
the Maronne, the Joxirdanne, the Dour^«, and scores of
similar names.
The same termination occurs frequently in the names
of German streams, as for example, in the case of the
hahn, anciently the hohana, the Isen, anciently the Isana,
the Mor«, anciently the Merina, and the Arge^i, anciently
the Argana^ while the T>rave and the Save preserve
194 — 196 ; Astnic, Hist de LanguedoCy p. 424 ; Thierry, Hist Gaul, vol. ii,
p. 2 ; Ferguson, Rivfr Nanus^ passim ; Pott, Etymohg. Forsch, vol iL pp.
103, 528 ; Salverte, Essai sur les Noms, vol. ii. p. 289.
1 Vilmar, Ortsnamm, p. 254.
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River-Names^— Dur. 199
the latter instead of the former portion of the ancient
word.
In Portugal we find the AVI A, and in Spain the ABONO
or AVONO. The GUADI-ANA is the Anas of Strabo, with
the Arabic prefix Wadt
In Italy we may enumerate the Aventia., now UAvmzsi,
the Savo, now the Savone, the Ufens, now the Au/ente,
the Vomawus, now the Vom^wo, as well as the Amas^us,
the Fibrous, and the Avens}
The names of Oundla (Avondale), Wandle, Wands-
worth, IVanstesid, Wansford, Yqtohb., and Avi^on,
anciently Avenion, the town on the a/on or stream of
the Rhod^/^us, or Rhone,* have all been thought to con-
tain the same root
II. DUR. Another word, diffused nearly as widely as
a/on, is the Welsh dwr, water.* Prichard gives a list of
forty-four ancient names containing this root in Italy,
Germany, Gaul, and Britain. We find the DOUR in Fife,
Aberdeen, and Kent, the DORE in Hereford, the DUIR in
Lanark, the THUR in Norfolk, the DORO in Queen's
County and Dublin, the DURRA in Cornwall, the dairan
in Carnarvonshire, the DURARWATER and the DEARGAN
in Argyle, the DOVER orDurheck in Nottinghamshire, the
Glas^/«r, or grey water, in Elgin, the Kot/ier, or red water
(Rhuddwr), in Sussex, the CdLlder,^ or winding water,
in Lancashire (twice), Yorkshire, Cumberland, Lanark
^ Williams, in Edinhurgh Transactions, vol. xiii p. 521 ; Essays, p. 70.
« Salverte, Essai sur Us Noms, vol. ii. p. 289.
' Brezonec and Cornish dour", Gaelic and Irish dur, and dobhar, pro-
nounced doar; cf. the Greek UJwp. On this root see Diefenbach, Celtica, i.
p. 155; Adelung, Mithrtdaies, vol. ii. p. 57; Davies, Celtic Researches, p.
207 ; Dnncker, Orig. Germ, p. 55 ; Chamock, Local Etym. p. 93 ; Ferguson,
River Names, pp. 37, 69; 'Rz.dXof, Neue Untersuchungen, p. 317; De
fiellogaet, Etknoghtic, vol i. p. 218.
* Perhaps, however, from the Norse kalldr^ cold.
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iOO The Celts.
:(three times), Edinburgh, Nairn, Invemiess, and Renrrew,
the Adder in Wilts, and two of the same name in Berwick,
the Adur in Sussex, the Adar m Mayo, the 'Hoder in
Wiltshire, the Cheddar in Somerset, the cascade of Lo^r^,
the lakes of Windbmere and Z>^rwent-water. The name
Derwtnt is probably from dwr-gwyn^ the clear water.^
tThere is a river jD^rwent in Yorkshire, another in Derby-
shire, a third in Cumberland, and a fourth in Durham.
The Darwin in Lancashire, the Derwen in Denbighshire,
the DartTit in Kent, and the Dart in Devon, are con-
tractions of the same name,^ as well, possibly, as the
TRENT.
Dorchester was the city of the Z?»r-otriges, or
dwellers by the water, and a second ancient city of
Dorchester, in Oxfordshire, stands upon the banks of the
Thames.
In France* we have the jD«ranius, now the Z^^rdogne,
the An/«ra, now the Eure, and the A^rus, now the
AdouK The Alpine Durance, anciently the Druentia,
reminds us of Our English Derwents. We find the
THURR in Alsace and again in Switzerland, the Durhion
in the Vosges, the Durdsin in Normandy, the Dourdon
and the Dourbie in the department of the Aveyron, as
well as the Douron in Brittany.
1 Whitaker, Htst Whalley, p. 8 ; Chamock, Local Efym. p. 85 ;
Williams, Edin. Trans, vol. xiii. p. 522 ; Essays^ p. 72 ; Poste, BrU,
Researches^ p. 143. Feiguson prefers Baxter's etymology, from the Welsh
derwyn, to wind, Rrver Names, p. 141. I believe, however, that none of
the Derwents are very tortuous, though they are all very clear.
s That the Darent was anciently the Derwent is shown by the name of
DERVENTio, the Roman station on the Darent. The further contraction
into the form Dart is exhibited in the name of Dartford, the modem town
on the same river. See Baxter, Glossarium, p. 103.
8 Pott, Etym. Forsch, vol. ii. p. 104 ; Philolog, Proc, vol. i. p. 107 ;
King, ItcUian Valleys^ p. 75,
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River-Names — Stour. 20l
In the North- Western, or Celtic part of Spain, there
are the jDwrius, now the DOURO, the Dtien\% the
j9«faton, the TVrio, the 7>ra, the Twrones, and the
In Italy are the TORRi;, the two Durias or DORAS in
Piedmont, and the TURIA, a tributary of the Tiber. In
the slightly changed form of ter we find the root dur in
the names of the Tr^^entum, now the Toronto, the TVaens
now the T'nbnto,^ as well as the T'ri^bia, the TVrias, the
TVrmus, the Dnies/^, and the \ster?^
In Germany we find the OdeTj the Dr^s^y the Dur-
bach, the Z>«>Tenbach in Wiirtemberg, the Z^/Vmbach
in Austria, the Z?«>Tenbronne near Eppingen,^ and the
city of Marcorf«rum, now Dur^n.^
Stour is a very common river-name. There are im-
portant rivers of this name in Kent, Suffolk, Dorset,
Warwickshire, and Worcestershire ; we have the STOR in
Holstein, the Stura, in Latium, is now the STORE, and
STURA is a very common river-name in Northern Italy.
The etymology of this name Stour is by no means
certain. In Welsh, words are augmented and intensified
1 Compare the name of the English TVent, anciently the Treonta.
' Rawlinson, fferodotus, vol. ilL p. 202. See however p. 202, infra,
' Mone, CelHsche Forschungen^ p. 68.
^ In ancient Gaul we find many names of towns in which this root
indicates that their sites were on the banks of rivers. We may specify,
among others, Emo</»rum, Salo^iirum, Iciodurvaxi, Divo^Mnim« Brevio-
durvaa, Gano</Knim, Velatot/iirum, Anti8so</t/rum, Octo</t/mm, Brivo-
</»nim, Marco</Mmm, Duromnxi, 2>Krocatalaunum, and Veto</t/rum. In
the valley of the Danube we find Gabano(/»nim, Bnigo^/i/nim, Eboi/Mrum,
Ecto^Mrum, 'Roiodumjjsi ; and in Britain, 2>Kn>vemum, Z^vrobrivse, Dur^
olevum, Z)wrolitum, Z?»rocomovium, j^n>cobrivium, and ZTwrolipsus.
Pricfaard, Researcha^ vol. iii. pp. 114 — 119. So ZURICH, in Switzerland,
is a corruption of 7«ncum, solothurn of Salo</tfrum, and winterthur
of y'xXfiduinxEBu Forstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbtuh^ vpl. ii. p. 446 \
Keferstein, Kelt, Alt, voL ii. p. 375.
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202 The Celts.
in meaning by means of the prefix ysy Thus we
have —
Uwc,
a lake ;
YslToe,
a slough.
Ber,
a bar;
Yspar,
a spear.
Liac,
lax;
Yslac,
slack.
CreciaHy
to creak ;
Ysgrec,
a shriek.
Crafu,
to scratch ;
Ysgrafu,
to scrape.
Pin,
a point ;
Yspin,
a spine.
Mwg,
vapour (muggy) ;
Ysmwg,
smoke.
Mai,
light, fickle ;
Ysmal,
small.
PifT.
a peak, or point ;
Yspig.
a spike.
Brig,
a shoot ;
Ysbrig,
a sprig.
Stour^ therefore, may be only the intensitive of dur.
On the other hand, it is possible that by a common pro-
cess of reduplication of synonyms, which will presently
be discussed, the word Stour may be formed from a
prevalent root — if, water; and dwvy water. There is
also a further complication, arising from a Teutonic
river-root st-r, which has been discussed by Forstemann,
a great authority.* He finds this root in the names of
more than one hundred German streams, such as the
Elster, Alster, Lastrau, Wilster, Ulster, Gelster, Innerste,
Agistra, Halsterbach, Streu, Suestra, Stroo, Strobeck,
Laster, Nister, and others.
III. ESK. The Gaelic and Erse word for water is
uisge? This is represented in Welsh by wysg^ a current,
and by gwy or wy^ water. This root, subject to various
^ Some forty instances of this augmentation may be found in Gamett's
Essays, p. 174 ; Cf. Dtefenbach, Celtica, L pp. 90 — 96 ; Chamock, Local
Eiynu pp. 258, 269 ; Mayhew, German Life and Manners, voL i. p. 557 »
Zcuss, Gram. Celtica, vol. i. p. 142. ' On the name Stour, see Feiguson,
River Names, p. 58 ; and Boudaid, Num. Iber, p. 127, who thinks it is
the Kuskarian ast-ur, rock water.
" In Kuhn*s Zeitschrift fiir Vergleichende Sprachforsehung, voL ix. pp.
276—289.
• Whisky is a corruption of Uisge-boy, yellow water.
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River-Names — Esk. 20%
phonetic mutations, is found in the names of a vast num-
ber of rivers.* There is an ESK in Don^al, in Devon,
in Yorkshire, in Cumberland, in Dumfries, two in For-
farshire, and two in Edinburghshire. We have an ESKY
in Sligo, an ESKER in King's County and in Brecknock,
an ESKLE in Herefordshire, and an isle in Somerset
^Jthwaite Water, and EaseAdX^, in the Lake District,
contain the same root, as well as the EWES in Northum-
berland and Dumfries, the ISE near Wellingborough, the
/fboume, a tributary of the Stratford Avon, the ^^w^burn
in Yorkshire, the -^jAboume in Sussex, and the ASH
in Hertfordshire and Wiltshire. In Bedfordshire and in
Hertfordshire we have the IZ ; the /rchalis was the
ancient name of the Ivel, and the Tisa of the Te^j.^
The ISIS contains the root in a reduplicated form, and
the Tam^ji>, or THAMES, is the ** broad Isis." In Wales
we have the river which the Welsh call the WYSG, and
the English call the USK. This Celtic word was Ro-
manized into Isca, while another Isca in Devonshire,
now the EXE, has given its name to -E^reter, ^'^rmoor, and
-Ermouth. There is also an EX in Hampshire and in
Middlesex. The Somersetshire AXE flows by ^orbridge,
and the Devonshire AXE gives its name to ^jtrminster,
and yjjrmouth. The ancient name of the Chelm must
have also been the Axe, for Chelmsford was formerly
Trajectus ad Axam, and Thaxted has been supposed
to be a corruption of The Ax Stead.* The town of Ux-
bridge stands on the River Colne, a later Roman appel-
* Diefenbach, Celtica^ ii. part i. p. 327 ; Donaldson, English Ethnography^
p. 39; Radlof, Neue Uniersuchungen, p. 2S6. The word has been thought
to have some Norse affinities. See Dietrich, in Haupt's Zeiischrifi^ vol. v.
p. 228.
• More probably from the Gadhelic Aiw, moisture.
» Baxter, Glossarium^ p. 31.
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204 The Celts.
lation, which apparently superseded the Celtic natne Ux.
The OCK joins the Thames near Oxford, the OKE is in
Devon, and the Ban^Aurn, near Stirling, has given its
name to a famous battle-field. The few Gadhelic names
in England are found chiefly towards the Eastern part
of the island ; here consequently we find three rivers
called the OUSE,i as well as the OUSEL, the OUSEBURN,
the USE in Buckinghamshire, UGG Mere, and OS-EY Is-
land. Oseney * Abbey is on an island near Oxford. The
WISK and the WasAhurn in Yorkshire, the Guash in
Rutland, the Wissey in Norfolk, and the local names
of IVisMord, Wislcy, IVisAsing^r, I^irborough, Wiskin
(water-island) in the Fens, formerly an island ; Wistovf
and -^jbeach, in the fens of Huntingdonshire, JVisheach,
and the WASH, seem to be derived from the Welsh wys^
rather than from the Gaelic uisg-e.
In Spain there are the ESCA and the -E^la, the latter
of which we may compare with the two /rlas in Scot-
land, the /fie in Somerset, and the Isle in Brittany, where
also we find the /jac, the Oust, the Cou^^non, and the
Cou^jan ; and in other districts of France are the ESQUE,
the ASSE, the OSE, the Isoli, the Ishrt, the Otische, the
Aisne, the Ausonnc, and the Ach^j^.
There are several French rivers called the Afes or
AfeSE. The /jara, or EsidL, has become the OISE, the
AxonsL is now the Aisne, the /rcauna is the Fonne, the
Liger£f is the Loire, and the (/[rantis insula is the island
of Otiessant or £/ihant The name of the town of
Orange, near Avignon, is a corruption of Ar^trion.*
^ The Huntingdonshire peasant to this day calls the Ouse the Usey, thus
preserving the ancient Gaelic form. Monkhouse, Etymologies^ p. 64.
• The n is probably a relic of the Celtic innisy island, as in the case of
Orkney. See page 171, supra»
' Salverte, Essai sur les Noms^ vol. ii. p. ^89.
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River-Names — Esk. 205
The /rella is now the Fxrel, the Scaldi> is the Scheldt,
the Vahalir is the Waal. In central Europe we have the
Alb£r now the Elbe, the Tanaw now the Don, the l&oxys-'
thenes now the Dan^jper or Dn^Vper, the'Tyr^ now the
Damzxter or Dni^Jter, the Tibifcus now the Their, the
/rter now the Danube, to which may, perhaps, be added
the Hyphanif, the Hyphasij, the Phaser, the Tiberir, the
Teri>, the /raurus, the /saphis, and the /roeus.
Among German streams we find the ISE, the AXE, the
/fen, the /far, the iE'wach, the -ffjchaz, the 5ave, the
Ahse^ the -ff/xbach, the -ff/jenbach, the EistKbzx^ the
£*Aach, the ^jelbach ; and a very large number of small
streams bear the names of -ff/^Abach, -^jrAbach, EschA-
bach, and jE'jrAelbronn or ^j^Aelbrunn. We find, also, the
-Ejjebom, the -ffxterbach, the -^^jbach, and the ^tsch>
The word Etsch is a German corruption of the ancient
name Atesis or Ath^j^r, which the Italians have softened
into the AAige. In Italy we find the 'RtAesis, the Is now
the /f ja, the -^^is now the Fium«ino (Flumen iEsinum),
the -^.rarus now the IszxOy the Natifo now the Natifone,
the Gal^KHis now the Gakjo, the Ver^xis now LVxa, the
Os?Lj which still retains its name unchanged, the Aus?iX
now the Serchio, the ApriAfa now the Aus^, and the
Padwja a branch of the Po.* The name of ISTRIA^ — ^half
land, half water — is derived from the Celtic roots, is^
water^ and ter, terra ; and Tri^Jte, its chief town, exhibits
a Celtic prefix tre^ a dwelling, which will presently be
discussed.*
From the closely related Welsh word gwy or wy
* See Donaldson, r^rw^wwar, pp.45— 48; Mone, Celtische Forschungm^
pp. 12, 13, 14, 18 ; Ferguson, River Names^ pp. 31 — ^33.
* Arch. Williams, in Edinh, Trans. voL iii. p. 519 ; Essays^ p. 69.
* Pott, Eiymol, ForscK voL il p. 233 ; Mone, CdU Forsch, p. 224.
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206 . The Celts.
(water), we may derive the names of the wye in Wales
and in Derbyshire, and of the WEY in Hampshire, in
Dorset, and in Surrey. The Llugwy (clear water), the
Myviwy (small water), the Qx2xway (rough water), the
Dowrd^jfte^;/ (noisy water), the YXwy (gliding water), the
Qonway (chief water), the Soze^y, the Ed«jy, the Onwy,
the Olway, the Vrynwy, are all in Wales ; the Meda^^;'
is in Kent, and the Solwqy on the Scottish border. There
is an /vel (Gmvel) in Somersetshire and in Bedfordshire.
The Solent was anciently called Vr wytA, the channel,
and the Isle of Wight was Ynysyr wy4h, the Isle of the
Channel, from which the present name may possibly be
derived.^ We find the Fl^Abach, W^j>pach, and many
similar names in Germany,^ In France the Gy, the Gu\-
save, and the Gui\ in the department of the Hautes
Alpes, and the Guiers, in the department of the Ain,
seem to contain the same root.^
IV. Rhe. The root RAe or RAin is connected with
the Gaelic rea, rapid ; with the Welsh rAe, swift ; r/teJu,
to run ; rAin, that which runs :* and also with the Greek
p€(o, the Sanskrit ri, and the English words run and
rain.^
* Walters, inJPhilological Proceedings^ vol. L p. 65. See, however, p. 71,
supra.
« Mone, Celtische Forsch. pp. 35, 36.
* The Welsh names of many aquatic animals contain the root gvy^ water,
e,g. kwyady a duck ; gwydd, a goose ; ^«/llemot, &c Morris, in GemtU-
man's Magazitte for October, X7S9, p. 904. Gmt is the Proven9aI term for
a duck. Courson, Peup. Bret, vol. i. p. 32.
* Rhyn is a promontory, a point of land which runs out to sea. Pcnrhyn
near Bangor, Rynd in Perth, Rhind in Clackmannan, Rindow Point near
Wigton, the Rins of Galloway, Penryn in Cornwall, Rien in Clare, Rinmore
in Devon, Argyle, and Aberdeen, and several Rins in Kerry, are all pro-
jecting tongues of land.
» So the raindeer is the running deer. Cf. Diefenbach, Celtica^ i. p. 56 ;
Orig, Europ, p. 408 ; Pictet, Orig, Jndo-Eur. vol. i. p. 136 ; Zcuss, Gram-
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River-Names — Rhe, 207
Hence we have the RYE in Kildare, Yorkshire, and
Ayrshire, the REA in Salop, Warwick, Herts, and
Worcestershire, the REY in Wilts, the RAY in Oxford-
shire and Lancashire, the RHEE in Cambridgeshire, the
RHEA in Staffordshire, the WREY in Devon, the ROY in
Inverness, the ROE in Derry, the RUE in Montgomery,
the ERYN in Sussex, the Rod^n in Salop and Essex, and
the Rihh\e in Lancashire. We also find this root in the
names of the RHINE (Rhenus), the RHIN, the REGEN, the
REGA and the if/^danau, in Germany, the Reinsich and
the Reuss in Switzerland, the Reggc in Holland, the
RAone in France, the RigdL in Spain, the RHA or Volga
in Russia, the ^r/danus, now the Po, and the RAenus,
now the Reno, in Italy.
V. Don. Whether the root Don, or Dan, is connected
with the Celtic a/on, or whether it is an unrelated Celtic
or Scythian gloss, is a point which has not been decided.
It appears, however, that in the language of the Ossetes
— ^a tribe in the Caucasus, which preserves a very primi-
tive form of the Aryan speech — the word don means
water or river.^ If this be the true meaning of the word
it enables us to assign an esoteric explanation to certain
primaeval myths.^ Thus Hesiod informs us that DamMS,
matica Cdtka, voL i. p. 13 ; Astnic, Languedoc, p. 448 ; Betham, Gad^
p. 212.
^ Amdt, Europ, Spr. pp. 117, 174, 241 ; Cf. Hartshome, Salopia
AnHqwiy p. 261 ; Wheeler, Gtography of Herodotus y p. 145. There is a
Gadhelic word taiUy water. Armstrong says don is an obsolete Gaelic word
for water, and that it is still retained in the Armorican. Compare the
Sclavonic tonu^ a river-deep. Schafarik, Slaunsche Altertk. vol. i. p. 498.
Ultimately, we may probably refer don to the conjectural Sanskrit word
udaHy water — which contains the root und^ to wet. Hence the Latin unda.
The Sanskrit udra^ water, comes from the same root undy and is probably
the source of the Celtic dwr, Pictet, Orig. Indo-Eun vol. i. p. 141.
• Karl V. Miiller, Mythologies pp. 185, 312 ; Pott, Mytho-Etymologica^ in
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208 The Celts.
the grandson of Poseidon and Libya (XijSa, moisture),
relieved Argos from drought : "ApYo? dwBpov iov Aavim
irobfiaev Ivv^pov, Again, we are told that the fifty
Danaides, having slain their husbands, the fifty sons of
uEgyptus, on the wedding night, were condemned to
carry water in broken urns to fill a bottomless vessel.
This myth receives a beautiful interpretation as an
esoteric exposition of a natural phenomenon, if we inter-
pret the ancient gloss dan^ as meaning water. We then
see that the i?^«aides, daughters of Dan, are the waters
of the inundation, which overwhelm the fifty provinces
of Egypt in their fatal* embrace, and for a penalty have
to bear water up the mountain sides in their broken
urns of cloud, condemned ceaselessly to endeavour to
fill the valley, a bottomless gulf through which the river
carries forth the outpourings of the clouds into the sea.
But whatever may be the signification of this root, we
find it in a large number of the most ancient and im-
portant river-names.
On the Continent we have the Danwht} the Dandstns^
the Z?tf«aster, or i?«iester, the -Oa«apris, Danaisper, or
Dnieper, the DON, anciently the TamiSf and the Donetz^
a tributary of the Don, in Russia, the Rha^iiau, in
Prussia, the Rhodanus or Rho«e, the Adonis, the Kredon
in the Caucasus, the Tidone and the Tan'^xo, affluents of
the Eri^&«us or Po, the Durdan in Normandy, the Don
in Brittany, and the Mdidon, the Yerdon, the Ijoudon, the
Odon, and the Rosco^» in other parts of France.
Kuhn's Zeitsekrift fur Verglach, Sprachforsch. vol. vii. pp. 109— ill ;
Gladstone, Homer, p. 366; Kelly, Curiosities, pp. 142, 212; Creozer,
Symbolik, vol iiL p. 480 ; Preller, Griechische Mythologie, pp. 33—38,
1 Zeuss, Gram, CdU voL ii. p. 994, thinks the root is the Erse dana^
strong. He is followed by Foratemann, Alt-deut, Namenbuck, vol. u.
p. 409 ; De Belloguet, Eth. p. 104; and Gliick, Kdt Namen, p. 93.
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River-Names — Don, 209
In the British Isles this wcM'd is found in the names
of the DON in Yorkshire, Aberdeen, and Antrim, the
'B2iVidon in Londonderry, the DEAN in Nottinghamshire
and Forfar, the DANE in Cheshire, the DUN in Lincoln-
shire and Ayrshire, the TONE in Somerset, and probably
in the ^Eden in Yorkshire, Cumberland, Kent, Fife, and
Roxburgh, the DAVON in Cheshire and Glamorgan, the
DEVON in Leicestershire, Perth, Fife, and Clackmannan,
and possibly the TYNE in Northumberland and Had-
dington, the TEIGN in Devon, the TIAN in the Island of
Jura, the TEANE in Stafford, the TEYN in Derbyshire,
and the tvnet in Banff.^
It thus appears that the names of almost all the larger
rivers of Europe, as well as those of a very great number
of the smaller streams, contain one or other of the five
chief Celtic words for water or river, viz. —
1. ATon, or son.
2. Dwr, or tcr.
3. Uisge, or wysk, wye, is, es, oise, usk, esk, ex, ax.
4. Rhe, or rhin.
5. Don, ^dan.
It will, doubtless, have been remarked that several
rivers figure more than once in the foregoing lists ; we
find, in short, that two or even three of these nearly
1 Some of these names may be from the Celtic //« «, running water, or,
perhaps, from Ta^aon^ the still river— see page 216, infra. The names
of the Davon and the Tone show how dwr-avon^ by crasis, might possibly
become D'avon, d-aon^ or don. In many river-names we find a d or & t
prefixed, which has been thought to be due to the Celtic preposition dt\
dOf or du, which means at. The Tees, the Taff, the Tavon, are perhaps
instances of this usage, which we see exemplified in the indisputable cases
of Zermat, Andermat, Amsteg, Stanko {is rdtf KS), Utrecht (ad trajectum),
Armorica, Aries, &c See pp. 86, 227 ; and Whitaker, J/isi, Manchester^
ToL i. p. 220 ; Hiit Whalley^ p. 9 ; Zeuss, Cram, Celt, vol. ii. pp. 566, 595,
597, 626; Baxter, Glossarium, p. 8 ; Char&ock, Local Etym, p. 269,
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210
The Celts.
synonymous roots enter into the composition of their
names.
Thus it seems probable that the name of the
Dan-as-ter, or
) contains roots
} (5) (3) (2)
Dn-ies-ter
Rha-dan-au
. . (4) (5) (I)
Is-ter . .
. . (3) (2)
Rho-dan-us
. . (4) (5) (3?)
Dan-ub-ius
. (5) (0(3?)
Dur-dan .
. (2) (5)
Dur-an-ius
. (2) (I) (3 0
Rhe-n-us . .
. (4)(0(3»)
I8c-aun>a .
. (3) (0
Dan-as-per
. (5) (3)
Ter-ab-ia . .
. (2) (I)
Hypan-is
Tan-ais .
£ri-dan-us
Ex-ter
Tyr-as
Ax-ona
S-avone
Aus-onne
Is-en .
Dour-on
S-tour
An-ton
(1) (3)
(5) (3)
(4)(5)(3n
(3) (2)
(2) (3)
(3) (I)
(3) (I)
(3)(i)
(3) (i)
(2) (I)
(3?)(2)
(I) (5)
Some of these cases may be open to criticism, but the
instances <ire too numerous to be altogether fortuitous.
The formation of these names appears to be in accord-
ance with a law,^ which, if it can be established, will
enable us to throw light on the process of slow accretion
by which many of the most ancient river-names have
been formed.
The theory supposes that, when the same territory has
been subject to the successive occupancy of nations
speaking different languages, or different dialects of the
same language, the earliest settlers called the river, on
whose banks they dwelt, by a word signifying in their
own language " The Water," or ",The River." ' As lan-
guage changed through conquest, or in the lapse of ages,
this word was taken for a proper name, and another
* The existence of this law, hybrida composition as it was termed by
Baxter, who discovered it, has been strenuously denied. See, however,
Donaldson, Varroniantts, pp. 46, 47; New Cratylus, p. 14; Rawlinson,
Herodotus^ \o\. iii. p. 188; Mone, Celt Forsch, p. 5; Davies, n Phil.
Trans, for 1857, p. 91 ; Poste, Brit, Researches^ p. 144.
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Reduplication of Synonyms. 2 1 1
word for "River" or "Water'* was superadded. This
process of superimposition may have been repeated
again and again by successive tribes of immigrants, and
thus ultimately may have been formed the strange
aggregations of synonymous syllables which we find in
so many river-names. The operation of this law we may
detect with certainty in the case of names unaffected, as
are most of the names which have been cited, by the
phonetic changes of many centuries. It will be well,
therefore, to illustrate this process in the case of some
familiar and more modern names, where it must, beyond
possibility of doubt, have taken place.
In the case of the DUR-BECK in Nottinghamshire, and
the DUR-BACH in Germany, the first syllable is the Celtic
dwr, water. The Teutonic colonists, who in either case
dispossessed the Celts, inquired the name of the stream,
and being told it was DWR, the water, they naturally took
this to be 2l proper name instead of a common name, and
suffixed the German word beck or bach, a stream. In
the names of the ESK-WATER and the DOUR- water in
Yorkshire, we have a manifest English addition to the
Celtic roots esk and dwr.
The IS-BOURNE, the EASE-BURN, the ash-bourne,
the WASH-BURN, and the OUSE-BURN, present the
Anglian burne, added to various common modifications
of the Celtic uisge.
In the name of WAN-S-BECK-WATER we first find
ivany which is a slightly corrupted form of the Welsh
afon. The s is, perhaps, a vestige of the Gadhelic
uisge. As in the case of the Durbeck, the Teutonic heck
-was added by the Anglian colonists, and the English
■word water was suffixed when the meaning of Wans-
beck had become obscure, and Wansbeckwater, or
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:^I2 The Celts.
Jliverwaterriverwater, is the curious agglomeration which
• has resulted.!
The mountain at the head of the Yarrow is called
MOUNTBENJERLAW. The original Celtic name was Ben
Yair^ or " Yarrow Head." The Angles added their own
word Idaw, a hill ; and the ftumnt is an Anglo-Norman
addition of still later date.*
In the name of BRINDON HILL, in Somersetshire, we
have first the Cymric bryn^ a hill. To this was added
dun^ a Saxonised Celtic word, nearly synonymous with
bryn ; and the English word hill was added when neither
bryn nor dun were any longer significant words.
Pen-dle-HILL, in Lancashire, is similarly com-
poimded of three synonymous words — ^the Cymric /w,
the Norse Jwll^ and the English hill? In PEN-TLOW
HILL, in Essex, we have the Celtic/^, the Anglo-Saxon
hlaw, and the English hilL SHAR-PEN-HOE-KNOLL, \xi
Bedfordshire, contains four nearly synonymous elements.
The names of PiN-HOW in Lancashire, PEN-HILL in
Somersetshire and Dumfriesshire, PEN-D-HILL in Surrey,
and PEN-LAW in Dumfriesshire, are analogous com-
pounds.
MON-GIBELLO, the local name of Etna, is compounded
of the Arabic gebel^ a mountain, to which the Italian
monte has been prefixed.
Trajan's bridge, over the Tagus, is called the LA
PUENTE DE ALCANTARA. Here we have the same pro-
cess. At Cantara means "The Bridge" in Arabic, and
La Puente means precisely the same thing in Spanish.
^ Donaldson, Varronianus ; New CratyiuSy p. 14.
• Garnett, Essctys p. 70.
« Davies, in Pkiloiog, Trans, p. 218 ; Whitaker, ffitt. of WhalUy^
pp. 7, 8.
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RedupliccUwfi of Synonyms. t\%
In the case of the city of NAG-POOR we have nagara, ,
a city, ^xld purOy a city.
The VAL DE NANT, in Neufchdtel, presents us with,
the Celtic nant and the French val, both identical
in meaning. HERT-FORD gives us the Celtic rkyd, a.
synonym of the Saxon ford} In HOLM-IN ISLAND
there are three synonyms. We find, first, the Norse
kohn; secondly, the Celtic innis ;* and, lastly, the
English island, INCH island is an analogous name.
In the case of the Isle of Shepp^, Canv^ Island, Osey
Island, and Rams^ Island, we have the Anglo-Saxon i
ea^ which is identical in meaning with the English
isUmd.
In like manner, we might analyse the names of the
Hill of Howth, the Tuskar Rock, Smerwick Harbour,
Sandwick Bay, Cape Griznez, Start Point, the Aland-
Islands, Hampton, Hamptonwick, Bourn Brook in
Surrey, the Bach Brook in Cheshire, the Oehbach^ in
Hesse, Knock-knows, Dal-field, KinnAird Heady the
King-horn River, Hoe Hill in Lincoln, Mal-don (Celtic
maol or moely a round hill) Maserfield (Welsh maesy a
field), Romn-ey Marsh (Gaelic ruimney a marsh), Alt
Hill (Welsh allt, a cliff),* and many others.
In short, it would be easy to multiply, almost without
end, unexceptional instances of this process of aggrega-
tions of synonyms ; but the cases cited may probably
suffice to make it highly probable that the same process
has prevailed among the Celtic and Scythian tribes of
central Europe, and that this law of hybrid composition,
as it is called, may, without extravagance, be adduced in
I Baxter, Ghssariumy p. 69.
« Old High German, aha^ water. See Vilmar, Ortsnametty p. 258,
* Davies, in Philohg. Trans, for 1857, p. 91.
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214 T^he Celts.
explanation of such names as the Rha-dan-au, or the
Dn-ies-ter, and with the highest probability in cases like
the Ax-ona or the Dur-dan.
It now remains briefly to consider the second or
adjectival class of river-roots.
Two have been already mentioned. From the Welsh
garWyXOM.^} we obtain the names of the GARA in Sligo
and Hereford, the GARRY in Perth and Inverness, the
YARE in Normandy, in Norfolk, in the Isle of Wight,
and in Devon, the GARWAY in Carmarthen, the GAR-
NERE in Clare, the GARNAR in Hereford, the YARRO
in Lancashire, the YARROW and the YAIR in Selkirk,*
the GARVE and the GARELGCH.in Ross, the GARONNE,
the GERS, and the GIRON in France, and the GUER in
Brittany.
From the Gaelic ally white, we obtain al-aouy *' white
afon." The Romans have Latinized this word into
Alauna.^ In Lancashire the Alauna of the Romans is
now the LUNE.* There is another LUNE in Yorkshire.
We find a River ALLEN in Leitrim, another in Denbigh,
another in Northumberland, and a fourth in Dorset.
There is an ALLAN in Perthshire, and two in Roxburgh-
shire. The ALAN in Cornwall, the ALLWEN in Merioneth,
the ELWIN in Lanark, the ELLEN in Cumberland, the
ILEN in Cork, and the ALN or AULN, which we find in
Northumberland, Cumberland, Hampshire, Warwick,
^ Gaelic and Irish, garbh,
* Compare the name of the monastery of Jarrow, where Beda lived.
' See Diefenbach, Celtica^ ii. part i. p. 310.
^ Z^Mcaster, anciently Ad Alaunam, is the ccLstra on the Lvine. The
name of ^i/cestcr, which stands on the Aln, the Warwickshire Alauna, is
written Ellencaster by Matthew Paris. See Baxter, Chssariumy p. xo.
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River-Names^^Alny Douglas^ Leven, 215
Roxbui^h, and Berwickshire, are all modifications of the
same name, as well as the AULNE and the ELL^E in
Brittany. The name of the ELBE is probably connected
with the same root-
To the Gaelic and Erse batiy white, we may refer the
BEN in Mayo, the BANK in Wexford, the BANE in Lin-
coln, the BAIN in Hertford, the AVEN-BANNA in Wexford,
the Banon (Ban Afon) in Pembroke, the bana in
Down, the Bandon in Cork and Londonderry, the
Banney in Yorkshire, the Banaic in Aberdeen, the Ban-
oc-burn in Stirling, the BAUNE in Hesse, and the Banitz
in Bohemia.
The word d/tu, black, appears in five rivers in Wales,
three in Scotland, and one in Dorset, which are called
DuXzs, There are also two in Scotland and one in
Lancashire called the Dou^^s^ and we have the DouI^ls
in Radnor, and the DowIqs in Shropshire.
From llevn, smooth, or from /inn, a deep still pool, we
obtain the names of Loch LEVEN and three rivers called
LEVEN in Scotland, beside others of the same name in
Gloucestershire, Yorkshire, Cornwall, Cumberland, and
Lancashire. To one of these words we may also refer
the names of Loch LYON in Perth, the River LYON in
Inverness, the LOIN in Banff, the LEANE in Kerry, the
LINE in Cumberland, Northumberland, Nottingham,
Peebles, and Fife, the lane in Galloway, the LAIN in
Cornwall, and perhaps one or more of the four LUNES
which are found in Yorkshire, Durham, and Lancashire.^
Deep pools, or lynns, have given names to LINCOLN,
^ The Diggles, also in Lancashire, is a corruption of the same name.
"Whitaker, Hisf. IVhalley, p. 9.
* We know that the Lune is, in one case, a contracted form of Alauna,
the white river. See p. 214, supra.
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2l6 The Celts.
Kingfs LYNN, DUBLIN, GLASLIN, LINLITHGOW, LINTON,
KILLIN, and ROSLIN.^
The word tam, spreading, quiet, still, which seems to
be related to the Welsh taw and the Gaelic tavy appears
in the names of the Tamt,s\s or THAMES, the TAME in
Cornwall, Cheshire, Lancashire, Stafford, and Bucks, the
TAMAR in Devon, the TEMA in Selkirk, the TEME in
Worcester, and perhaps^ in those of the TAW in Devon
and Glamorgan, the TA Loch in Wexford, the TAY
(anciently the Tavus) in Perth and Waterford, the TAVY
in Devon, and the TAVE in Wales. Pliny tells us,
Scythae vocant Maeotim Temarundam, — the "Broad
Water."»
The widely-diffused root ar causes much perplexity.
The ARAR, as Caesar says, flows "incredibili lenitate;"
while, as Coleridge tells us, the ARVE and the ARVEIRON
'' rave ceaselessly." We find, however, on the one hand,
a Welsh word arafy gentle, and an obsolete Gaelic word
drr, slow, and on the other we have a Celtic word arw^
violent, and a Sanskrit root arby to ravage or destroy.
From one or other of these roots, according to the
character of the river, we may derive the names of the
ARW in Monmouth, the ARE and the AIRE in Yorkshire,
the AYR in Cardigan and Ayrshire, the ARRE in Corn-
wall, the ARRO in Warwick, the ARROW in Hereford and
Sligo, the ^ray in Argyle, the Ara-^m and the Ara--
gadeen in Cork, the ERVE, the ARVE, the OURCQ, the
1 Zeuss derives the name of the Lacus Lemanus from this root Gratn^
Celt. voL i. p. lOo; De Belloguet, Ethnoghtie^ vol. i. p. 249.
« Sec p. 209, suprc^
" Donaldson, Vamm. p. 51. We find a Sanskrit word, tdmarot water.
The ultimate root seems to be tam^ languescere. Pictet, Orig. Indo-Eurxjp,
p. 142.
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River-Names — Tame^ Atre^ Cam, Clyde, 217
arc; the Arnege, and the ^f veiron, in France, the Argz,
and three rivers called ArwdL in Spain, in Italy the Amo
and i?ra, in Switzerland the AAR and the -^Hbach, in
Germany the OHRE, AHR, Isar, Auraich, Orrty Er\ Erldi,
A A, Orldiy Argexiy and several mountain streams called
the ARE ; besides the well-known ancient names of the
O^rus, the -Praxes, the AR-AR-AR, the Nap^ns, the -4ras,
and the Jax^rtes.^
The word cam? crooked, we find in the CAM in
Gloucester and Cambridgeshire, the CAMIL in Cornwall,
the CAMLAD in Shropshire, the CAMBECK in Cumber-
land, the CAMLIN in Longford, and the camon in Tyrone.
MORCAMBE BAY is the crooked-sea bay, and CAMDEN is
the crooked vale. We have also the rivers KAMP and
CHAM in Germany, and the KAM in Switzerland.
To the Gaelic cliih, strong, we may refer the CLYDE
and the CLUDAN in Scotland, the CLWYD, the CLOYD,
and the CLYDACH, in Wales, the CLYDE and several
other streams in Ireland, and, perhaps, the CLITUMNUS
in Italy.*
There are many other clusters of river-names which
invite investigation, but of which a mere enumeration
* See Latham, Germania^ ?• 13 > Rawlinson, Herodotus^ vol. iii. p. 202 ;
Mone, Cdt. Forsch. p. 204; Prichard, Researches, vol. iii. p. 132 ; Gliick,
Kleit, Nanunj p. 58 ; Radlof^ Neue Untersuckungen, p. 2S5 ; De Belloguet,
Ethnoginiey vol. i. p. Il6 ; Forstemann, Ortsnametiy p. 32.
s Diefenbach, CelHca, i p. i la This word was adopted into English^
though it is now obsolete. So Sicinius Velutus says of the crooked reasoning
of Menenius Agrippa, "This is clean kam;" to which Brutus replies,
*' Merely awry." Coriolanusy Act iii. scene I The root appears in the
phrase, arms in kembo, or a-kimba To cam, in the Manchester dialect, is
to cross or contradict a peison, or to bend anything awry. Kennett,
Parochial Antiquities, Glossary, s. v. Camera ; Whitaker, Hist, Manchester,
▼oL il p. 274; Davies, iji Philolog, Proc, voL vL p. 129 ; Halliwell, Archaic
Glossary, s. v. ; Gliick, Kdt, Namen, p. 34.
• Williams, Essays, p. 71, prefers the Welsh clyd, warm.
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2li8 The Celts.
must suffice.^ Such are the groups of names of which
the NEATH, the SOAR, the may, the DEE, the TEES, the
CHER, the KEN, the FROME, the COLNE, the IRKE, the
LID, thCL LEA, the MEUSE, the GLEN, and the SWALE,
may be taken as types. It is indeed a curious fact, that
a unique river-name is hardly to be found. Any given
name may immediately be associated with some dozen
or half-dozen names nearly identical in form and
meaning, collected from all parts of Europe. This
might suffice to show the great value of these river-
names in ethnological investigations. Reaching back to
a period anterior to all history, they enable us to prove
the wide diffusion of the Celtic race, and to trace that
race in its progress across Europe.
For antiquity and immutability, the names of mountains
and hills come next in value to the names of rivers.*
The names of these conspicuous landmarks have been
transmitted from race to race very much in the same
way, and from the same causes, as the names of rivers.
The modern Welsh names for the head and the back
are pen and cefn. We find these words in a large num-
ber of mountain-names. The Welsh cefn? (pronounced
* On river-roots see Fei^son, River Names of Europe ; Baxter, Glos-
sarium; Chalmers, CaledoniOj vol. i. ; Forstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuck,
vol. ii, ; Deutschen Ortsnamen^ pp. 31—37; Whitaker, History of Man-
chester^ vol. i. p. 220 ; History of Whalley^ PP- 8, 9 ;' Betham, Gad^ pp. 205 —
215; Vilmar, Ortsnamen^ p. 254; Church of England Quarterly, No. 73,
p. 153 ; Schott, Deutsch. Col, pp. 219, 225 ; Pictet, Orig, Indo-Eur, part i.
pp. 119, 134—145; and the works of Pott, Amdt, Gliick, Diefenba<^ De
Belloguet, Williams, Davies, Latham, Rawlinson, Donaldson, &c.
' **Helvellyn and Skiddaw rise as sepulchral monuments of a race that
has passed away." — Palgrave, English Commonwealth^ vol. L p. 451.
■ See Diefenbach, Cdtica^ i. p. 104 ; Gliick, Kelt, Namen^ p. 51 ;
Boudard, Numat, Ibir, p. 121 ; Morris, in Gentleman* s Mag, for 1789,
p. 905.
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Names of Mountains. 2 icf
keven) a back, or ridge, is very common in local names
in Wales, as in the case of CEFN COED or CEFN BRYN.
In England it is found in the CHEVIN, a ridge in Wharf-
dale ; in CHEVIN Hill near Derby ; in KEYNTON, a name
which occurs in Shropshire, Dorset, and Wilts; in
CHEVENING, on the great ridge of North Kent ; in
CHEVINGTON in Suffolk and Northumberland ; also in
CHEVY Chase, and the cheviot Hills ; in the Gehenna
Mens, now LES CEVENNES, in France; and in Cape
CHIEN, in Brittany.
The Welsh /^,^ a head, and by metonymy, the usual
name for a mountain, is widely diffused throughout
Europe. The south-easterly extension of the Cymric
race is witnessed by the names of the PENN-INE chain of
the Alps, the A-PENN-INES, a place called PENNE,
anciently Pinna, in the high Apennines, and Mount
PINDUS, in Greece. The ancient name of PENILUCUS,
near Villeneuve, is evidently a Latinized form of Pen-y-
llwchy the head of the lake.* We find PENHERF and
the headland of PENMARCH in Brittany, and there is
a hill near Marseilles which is called LA PENNE. In our
1 From the root/««, originally a head or point, come probably, pinnacle,
penny (?), pin, spine, and the name of the pine-tree. It is curious that the
Cymric pyr^ a fir, bears the same relation to the name of the Terences
HaaXpina does to those of the Apennines and Pennine Alps. Compare the
Pyem mountains in Upper Austria, and the Femer in Tyrol. In the case
of many of the Pjrrenean giants the topmost pyramid of each is called its
**penne." Pena is the name for a rock in Spanish, and in \\sX\2Sipenna
is a mountain summit. Diez, Etym, Worterb. p. 258. Cf. Quarterly
Jieuitw^ vol. cxvi. p. 12. On the root/^, see Diefenbach, Cdtica^ i. p. 170;
Orig, Eur, p. 397 ; Keferstein, Kelt, Alt. vol. ii p. 186 ; Adelung, MUhri'
eiatcs, vol. iL p. 67 ; Forbes, Tour of Mont Blanc, p. 210 ; Zeuss, Gram*
Cdi. vol. i p. 77 ; Wedgwood, in PkUolog, Proceeds vol. iv. p. 259 ; Davies,
sbid, vol. vi. p. 129 ; De Belloguet, EthnogMiey vol. i. p. 73.
* Hobertson, Early Kings^ vol. iL p. 229.
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220 The Celts.
own island, hills bearing this name are very numerous.
We have PENARD, penhill, and pen in Somerset,
Upper and Lower PENN in Staffordshire, and PANK
Castle near Bridgenorth. The highest hill in Bucking-
hamshire is called PEN. One of the most conspicuous
summits in Yorkshire is called PENNIGANT. INKPEN
stands on a high hill in Berkshire. We have PENDLETON
and PENKETH m Lancashire, PENSHURST in Sussex ; in
Cumberland we find PENRITH, the head of the ford ; and
in Herefordshire, PENCOID, the head of the wood. In
Cornwall and Wales the root pen is of perpetual occur-
rence, as in the cases of penrhyn and PENDENNIS {Pen.
Dinas) in Cornwall, and penmaenmawr, Pembroke,*
and penrhos, in Wales.
In Argyleshire and the northern parts of Scotland the
Cymric pen is ordinarily replaced by ben or cenn^ the
Gaelic forms of the same word.
This distinctive usage oi pen and befi in local names
enables us to detect the ancient line of demarcation
between the Cymric and Gadhelic branches of the Celtic
race. We find the Cymric form of the word in the
Gram-//tf«-s, the pentland Hills, the pennagaul Hills
and PENPONT in Dumfries, the PEN of Eskdalemuir,
PEN CRAIG in Haddington, PENWALLY in Ayrshire, and
PENDRICH in Perth. On the other hand the Gaelic ben^
which is conspicuously absent from England,^ Wales,
and south-eastern Scotland, is used to desigjnate almost
all the higher summits of the north and west, as, for
instance, BENNEVIS, BENLEDI, benmore, benwyvis,
benlomond, bencruachan, and many more, too
numerous to specify.
* Pen-bro, Jthc head of the land
* Ben Rhydding, in Yorkshire, is a name of veiy recent concoction.
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Hill-Names— pen^ dun. 221
The Gadhelic cenn, a head^ is another form of the
same word. It is found in KENMORE,i CANTIRE, KIN-
NAIRD, and KINROSS, in Scotland, KINSALE and KEN-
MARE in Ireland, in the English county of KENT, KENNE
in Somerset, KENNEDON in Devonshire, KENTON in
Middlesex, KENCOT in Oxforddiire, and KENCOMB in
Dorset.
The position of ancient Celtic strongholds is frequently
indicated by the root dun, a hill fortress, a word which is
closely related to the modern Welsh word dinas} The
features of such a natural stronghold are well exhibited
at SION in Switzerland, where a bold isolated crag rises
in the midst of an alluvial plain. Like so many other
positions of the kind, this place bears a Celtic name.
The German form SITTEN is nearer than the French
SION to the ancient name Sedunnm, which is the Latin*
ized form of the original Celtic appellation. In a
neighbouring canton the ancient "Ehr^unwva has become
YYERDUN, a place which, as well as THUN (pronounced
Toon), must have been among the fortress-cities of the
Celts of Switzerland. In Germany, Campo^&^um is now
1 Kemnore, the ''great sammit,*' from the Gaelic mor, or the Welsh
m4rwr, great. This name is found also in Switzerland. There is a mountain
called the kamor in Appenzell, and another called the kammerstock
between Uri and Glaros. Mont CENis was anciently Mons Cinisius.
GENEVA is probably cenn a/on, the head of the river. See Mone, Celtisckc
ForscAung€Hy p. 27.
* Gliick, KelL Namen^ p. 139 ; Diefenbacfa, CdtUa, i p. 157 ; Orig.
Eur, pp. 325 — 328 ; Adelung, Mithridates, vol. ii, p. 57 ; Holtzmann, Kelten
und Gertnanen^ p. ic» j Menage, Origines, pp. 264-— 267 ; Forstemann, Alt-
dmtsches Nanunhuch^ vol. iL p. 442 ; Cambro-Briton^ voL iii. p. 43. From
the Celtic the root has penetrated into Italian and Spanish as duna, into
English as down, and into French as dune. The Dhunsoil^e Himalayas,
as Kjarda Dhun, Dehra Dhun, &c seem to be related words. Diez, Etym,
Worterh. p. 129 ; Lassen, Indische Alterth, voL L pp. xlv. 4S.
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222 Tlie Celts.
KEMP-TEN, and Tarorf«»um, in the modern form of
DOR-N-STADT, preserves only a single letter of the Celtic
dim. The same is the case with Q^xxodunyim (carraigh-
dun, the rock fort), now KHAR-N-BURG on the Danube ;
while Idunwvci^ on the same river, is now I-DIN-O. THUN-
DORF and DUN-ESTADT also witness the eastern exten-
sion of the Celtic people.^ In Italy we find nine ancient
names into which this Celtic root enters, as Vim/wium,
AtifidLy and Re//«a.^ But in France, more especially,
these Celtic hill-forts abounded. Augustorfa«um is now
AU-TUN, and jyiWodunum is LOU-DUN near Poictiers.
Lugrf««um, on the Rhone, is now LYONS ; Tuugdunxim
or Lugorf/;/um, in Holland, is now leyden ; and Lugi-
dunwm, in Silesia, is now GLOGAU. The rock of LaOn,
the stronghold of the later Merovingian kings, is a
contraction of TuBMdunum,^ Novio</««um, the " new fort,"
is a common name : one is now NOYON, another nevers,
another NYON, another JUBLEINS. Melorf««um {fneall-
dun^ the hill fort), now MELUN, Verorf««um, now VER-
DUN, and Uxellorfif^«um in Guienne, were also Celtic
strongholds.
In England there seem to have been fewer Celtic
fortresses than in France. Lonrf««um or Lon^irV^ium,
the fortified hill on which St. Paul's Cathedral now
staads, is now LON-DON. LEX-DON, near Colchester,
^ See Mone. Cdhsche Farschungen^ p. 68. The ancient name of Belgrade
was Segodunum, Sagha-dun^ equivalent to Hapsburg, or Hawks*-hill,
Leo, Vorlesungetty vol. i. p. 195.
* Williams, Edinburgh Proceedings, voL xiii. p. 532 ; Essays, p, 8ou
Coxtona is evidently Caer-dun.
* Palgrave, England and Normandy, vol. ii. p. 7 ; Kennedy, in PhOolog,
Trans, for 1 855, p. 170 ; Salverte, Essai sur Us Noms, vol. ii. pp. 265, 266.
See p. 227, infra,
* Gliick, Kdt. Nam, p. 139.
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Celtic Strongholds. 223
seems to have been Legionis dunum ;^ and Camulo-
dunum is probably MAL-DON, in Essex.^ Sovhiodunum,
now Old SARUM ; Branno^/««um, now Brancaster ; Mori-
dunum, now CARMAR-THEN ; Kigiodunum, perhaps
Ribblechester ; Moridunum^ probably Seaton ; and Tao-
dunum, now DUN-DEE, were all British forts which were
occupied by the Romans. The same root dun is found
also in DUNSTABLE, DUNMOW, and DUNDRY Hill in
Somerset In Scotland we have dumblane, Dumfries,
DUNKELD, the "fort of the Celts," and Dumbarton, the
"fort of the Britons." In Ireland we find DUNDRUM,
DUNDALK, DUNGANNON, DUNGARVON, DUNLEARY, DUN-
LAVIN, and scores of other names, which exhibit this
word. It was adopted by the Saxons from the Celts*
and, in accordance with the genius of their language, it
is used as a suffix instead of as a prefix, as is usually
the case in genuine Celtic names. We have instances
in the names of HUNTINGDON, FARRINGDON, and
CLARENDON.
The Celtic languages can place the substantive first
and the adjective last, while in the Teutonic idiom this
is unallowable. The same is the case with substantives
which have the force of adjectives. Thus the Celtic
Strathclyde and Abertay corresponds to the Teutonic
forms Clydesdale and Taymouth. This usage often
enables us to discriminate between Celtic and Saxon
roots which are nearly identical in sound. Thus, Balbeg
and Strathbeg must be from the Celtic deg; little; but
Bigholm and Bighouse are from the Teutonic 6i£, great,
Dairy, Dalgain, Dalkeith, Daleaglis, Dolberry in Somer-
set, and Toulouse must be from the Celtic dol, a plain ;
* Baxter, G/ossarium, p. 174.
' Horsley, Brit, Rom. p. 31 ; Cough's Camden, vol. ii. pp. 122, 135.
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224 The Celts.
while Rydal, Kendal, Mardale, and Oundle, are from the
Teutonic daky a valley.^
The Welsh word brytiy a brow* or ridge, is found in
BRANDON, in Suffolk, which is the Anglicized form of
Dinas Bran, a common local name in Wales. A ridge
in Essex is called BRANDON. BREANDOWN is the name
of a high ridge near Weston-super-Mare. BRENDON
Hill forms part of the great ridge of Exmoor. BIRN-
WOOD Forest, in Buckinghamshire, occupies the summit
of a ridge which is elevated some 300 feet above the
adjacent country. BRAINTREE in Essex, and BRINTON
and BRANCASTER in Norfolk (anciently Brannodunum),
contain the same root, which is found in numerous
Swiss and German names, such as brannberg, BRAN-
DENBURG, BRENDENKOPF, and the BRENNER in the
Tyrol.^
Penrhos, a name which occurs in Wales and Corn-
wall, contains a root — rkos, a moor* — ^which is liable to
be confused with the Gaelic ros^ which signifies a promi-
nent rock or headland. ROSS in Hereford and in North-
umberland, ROSNEATH by Loch Long, and ROSDUY on
Loch Lomond, are all on projecting points of land.
Every Rigi tourist will remember the projecting preci-
pice of the ROSSBERG, in Canton Schwytz, whose partial
fall overwhelmed the village of Goldau. There are six
1 See Zeuss, Grammatica Cdtica, vol. ii. pp. 824, 825, 862 ; Chalmen^
CaUdoniay vol. L p. 492 ; Robertson, Early Kings^ voL ii. p. 244. '
• Cf. the Sanskrit bhrd^ eyebrow. The English word brow^ the Scotch
brae^ and the old German brdwa, all seem to be connected with this root.
See Diefenbach, Cdiica, I p. 178 ; Vtrgl, Wifrterb, vol. i. pp. 316— 518^
» Mone, Cdtische Forschungen^ pp. 15, 16.
^ The rusk is the characteristic moorland plant The Latin rus is a
cognate word, and indicates the undrained moorland condition of the
country.
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Names of Rocks, 225
other mountains of the same name in Germany."^ To the
same source we may probably refer the names ^ of Monte
ROSA, Piz ROSATSCH, ROSEG, and ROSENLAUI in Switzer-
land, and ROSTRENAN in Brittany. In our own islands
we find this root in the names of WROXETER, ROSLIN,
KINROSS, CARDROSS, MONTROSE, MELROSE, ROXBURGH,
ARDROSSAN, and ROSCOMMON.
Craig, a rock, so common in Welsh names, is found in:
CRICK in Derbyshire and Northampton, and CRICKLADK:
in Wilts. In Ireland this word takes the form carraig-
as in the case of CARRICKFERGUS. The root is probably
to be found in the name of the three ranges called
respectively the GRAIAN/ the CARNIC, and the KARA-
VANKEN Alps. The prefix Kar is very common near.
.Botzen.* In Savoy it takes the form crau. This form
also appears in the name of a rocky district between:
Aries and Marseilles, which is called LA CRAU.*
Toty a projecting rock, is found in the names of Mount
TAURUS, TORBAY, and the TORS of Devonshire and
Derbyshire.^ The higher summits of the TYROL ace
called Die Tawrren.
1 Mone, Celtische Forschungen^ p. 127.
• Some of these may be the " red " mountains. The red hue of Monte
Rosso, a southern outlier of the Bemina, is very markedly contrasted with
the neighbouring '* black peak " of Monte Nero.
• Petronius tells us that this name means a rock. See Diefenbach, Celtkay
L p. 104 ; Adelung, Mithridates, voL iL p. 54 ; Keferstein, Kelt. Alt, vol. iu
p. 186 ; Radlof^ Neue Untersuchungen, p* 312 ; De Belloguet, Ethnoginie^
voL i. p. 249.
^ Gilbert and ChurchUl, Dolomite Mountains^ p. 84.
' According to Pliny, the Scythian name of Caucasus was Grau-casis.
• We find YES tor, fur tor, hey tor, mis tor, hessary tor, brent
TOR, HARE TOR, and LYNX TOR, in Devon ; and row tor, mam tor,
ADYN TOR, CHEE TOR, and OWLAR TOR, in Derbyshire, hentoe, in Lan-
cashire, is a corruption of Hen Tor. See Diefenbach, CeUica^ ii. pt. i. ppi
337, 34^
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226 The Celts.
The word ard^ high, great, which forms the first
portion of the name of the legendary King Arthur,^
occurs in some 200 Irish names,^ as ARDAGH, ARDGLASS,
and ARDFERT. In Scotland we have ARDROSSAN, ar-
MEANAGH, ARDNAMURCHAR, and ARDS. The name of
ARRAJg, the lofty island, has been appropriately bestowed
on islands off the coast of Scotland and Ireland, and it
attaches also to a mountain in Wales. The LIZARD
Point is the high cape.* In combination with the word
den, a wooded valley, it gives us the name of the Forest
of ARDEN in Warwickshire and in Yorkshire, and that
of the ARDENNES, the great forest on the borders of
France and Belgium. AUVERNE is probably, or
fearann, the "high c6untry."*
The word cwm^ is very frequently used in Wales,
where it denotes a cup-shaped depression in the hills.
This word, in the Saxonized form combe^ often occurs
in English local names, especially in those counties where
the Celtic element is strong. In Devonshire we have
ILFRACOMBE, YARCOMBE,.and COMBE MARTIN; and the
combes among the Mendip hills are very numerous. The
Celtic county of Cumberland has been supposed to
take its name from the combes with which it abounds.^
1 Yonge, Christian Nanus y vol. iL p. 125.
■ Sullivan, Dictionary of Derivations t p. 282.
> Baxter, Glossarium, p. 186.
* Thierry, Hist, GauL vol. L pp. xxxvi. 5 ; Keferstein, Kdt. Alt, voL ii.
p. 295.
B A comb, a measure for com, and the comb of bees, are both from this
root, which is found in several local dialects in the Celtic parts of France,
Spain, and Italy, as, for example, the Piedmontese combo, Diez, Etym^
Wort. p. 107 ; Diefenbach, Ccltica, I p. 112 ; GlUck, Kdt, Namat, p. 28 ;
Kemble, Cod, Dipt. vol. iii. p. xvi.
< Professor Leo, however, maintains the Anglo-Saxon combe was not
adopted from the Celtic cwm, AnglO'Saxon Names, p. 83.
f See, however, p. 71, supra.
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Combe. 227
Anderson, a Cumberland poet, says of his native
county : —
" There's Cvrnwhitton, C»/»whinton, CWmranton,
CWmrangan, Ciy/mrew, and O/mcatch,
And xnony mair Cums i' the County,
But nin wi' Ci^mdivock can match." ^
High WYCOMBE in Buckinghamshire, COMBE in Oxford-
shire, APPLEDURCOMB, GATCOMB, and COMPTON Bay, in
the Isle of Wight, facomb and COMBE in Hampshire,
and COMPTON,* GOMSHALL, and COMBE, in Surrey, are
instances of its occurrence in districts where the Celtic
element is more faint than in the west : and abroad we
find the root in the name of the Puy de BELLECQMBE
in Cantal, and not improbably even in the name, of
COMO.
The Welsh Zfee/^A, a lake, morass, or hollow, corresponds
to the Scotch loch and the Irish lough. This word con-
stitutes the first syllable of the common ancient name
Lugdunum, which has been modernized into LYONS
and LEYDEN. We can trace the first portion of the
Romanized Celtic name Luguballium in the medieval
Caerluel which superseded it, and which, with little
change, still survives in the modern form CARLISLE. The
lake which fills a remarkable bowl-shaped crater in the
Eifel district of Germany is called LAACH. We find the
same root in Lukotekia, Lukotokia, or Lutetia, the
ancient name of Paris.*
^ Sullivan, Dictionary of Derivations^ p. 286.
' There are twenty-three parishes of this name in England.
* Old Paris was confined on the island which divides the Seine into two
branches. The name seems to be from llwck^ and toki^ to cut. Prichard,
Researches^ vol. iii. p. 132. From the related Welsh word llaith^ moist, we
have the nameof arles, anciently Arelate, the town ''on the marsh.'' See
p. 86, supra; Gliick, Kdt, Namen, pp. 30, 114, 115 ; Pott, Etyni, Forsch,
Digitized by VjOOQIC
228 The Celts.
The Cymric prefix tre^ a place or dwelling,^ is a useful
test-word, since it does not occur in names derived from
the Gaelic or Erse languages.* It occurs ninety-six
times in the village-names of Cornwall/ more than
twenty times in those of Wales ; and is curiously distri-
buted over the border counties. We find it five times in
Herefordshire, three times in Devon, Gloucester, and
Somerset, twice in Shropshire, and once in Worcester,
Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumberland, and Northumber-
land.* It is frequent in Brittany, it occurs some thirty
times in other parts of France, and twice or thrice iil
the Celtic part of Spain.* TREVES, anciently Augusta
TV^irorum, TROYES, anciently Civitas Tricassium, and
TRICASTIN, near Orange, exhibit this widely-diffused
voL ii. pp. 42, 536 ; Astruc, HisU Langucdoc, p. 424 ; Menage, Origuus^
p. 57 ; Davies, CelHc Researches^ pp. 221, 500; Radlof, Neue Untersuck-
ungeHf p. 290; De Belloguet, Ethnoginie^ voL i. p. 115.
^ The Tref or Hamlet was the primary division of a British sept
' It is related to the Irish treabh^ a clan, and, more distantly, to the
Latin tribus, Mone, Celtische Farsch, p. 204; Leo, Voriesungefty voL i. p. 149;
Diefenbach, CelHca^ i. pp. 146, 147 ; Williams, Essays^ p. 85 ; GerviUe^
Noms^ p. 22$ ; Latham, Germania^ p. 98 ; Pictet, Orig, Indo-Europ. vol. iL
p. 291 ; Gliick, KelL Namen, pp. 39, 40.
* More than a thousand times, if we include hamlets and single home-
steads. Hence it entere into a vast number of Cornish territorial surnames.
There is an old adage which says : —
" By Tre, Pol, and Pen,
You may know the Cornish men."
* We have, for example, such names as— Trefonen, Tre-evan, Tretire,
Trevill, andTrewen, in Herefordshire; Trebroader, in Shropshire; Tie-
borough in Somerset ; Treton in Yorkshire ; Trebroun in Berwickshire;
Trehom in Cunningham, in Ayrshire ; Tretown in Fifeshire ; Tr^;allon in
Kirkcudbright ; Treuchan in Perthshire. Such names as Uchiltre in Ayr-
shire, Wigtonshire, and Linlithgow ; Wavertree in Lancashire ; Braintree
in Essex ; Oswestry in Shropshire ; and Coventry in Warwickshire, may,
or may not, contain this root. The substantive in Celtic names is usually,
but not invariably, the prefix. See p. 223, supra,
* E.g, TREVENTO, CONTREBIA.
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Names of Dwellings, 229
Cymric root The tribe of the 'DnrotrigtSj the dwellers
by the water, have given a portion of their name to
DORSET, and the A/r^bates have bestowed theirs upon
ARRAS and ARTOIS. In Italy we find the name Treba,
now TREVI, Trebula, now TREGLIA, TRESSO, TREVISO,
TREBBIA, and TRIESTE, besides TRIENT in the Italian
Tyrol, and other similar names in the most Celtic part
of Italy, near the head of the Adriatic.
Bod, a house, is very common in Cornwall,* and appears
also in Wales. Ty means a cottage, and is universally
prevalent in Wales, though it enters into few important
names. In Cornwall it takes also the forms Chy and Ky,^
and in Brittany it appears as Qui and Cae?
Llan^ an inclosure, and hence, in later times, the sacred
inclosure, or church, is also a useful Cymric test-word.
It occurs ninety-seven times in the village-names of
Wales, thirteen times in those of Cornwall, in Shrop-
shire and in Herefordshire seven times, in Gloucester-
shire four times, and in Devon twice. It is also found
in the Cymric part of Scotland,* and is very common in
Brittany.'^
The original meaning of Ian was probably not an in-
closure, but a level plain,^ such as the LANDES, the vast
sandy flats near Bayonne, or the LLANOS, the sea-like
plains of South America. In a mountainous country
^ E,g, BODMIN, the stone house.
• E,g, CHYNOWETH, the new house, kynance, the house in the valley.
Pryce, Arch, Comu-Brit, sub voc.
» E,g, QUIBERON.
4 E.g. LANARK and LANRICK.
• E,g. LANGEAC, LANNION, LANDERNEAU, LANDIVIZIAN, LANOE.
• Cf. Talbot, Eng. Ety. p. 55 ; Pryce, Arch. Cornu-Brit. s. v. Our
words lawn and land come from the same ultimate root Compare how-
ever the Per^an Idn, a yard. Pictet, Orig. Indo-Europ. vol. ii. p. 19.
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230 The Celts.
like Wales such level spots would be the first to be
inclosed, and it is easy to perceive the process by which
the transition of meaning might be effected. The root,
in its primary meaning, appears in the name of MI-LAN,
which stands in the midst of the finest plain in Europe.
The Latin name Medioiizwum, probably embodies, or
perhaps partly translates, the ancient enchorial word^
The Celtic word, mauy a district, is probably to be
sought in MAINE, MANS, MANTES, and MAYENNE in
France, in MANTUA in Italy, in LA MANCHA and MANXES
in Spain, in England in MANSFIELD, in Mancunium, now
MANCHESTER, in Manduessedum, now mancester, as
' well as in MONA, the MENAI Straits, the Isle of MAN, and
several Cornish names.*
Nant^ a valley, is a conmion root in the Cymric dis-
tricts of our island, as in NANT-FRANGON, the beavers*
valley, in Carnarvonshire; or NANTGLYN in Denbighshire,
NAN BIELD is the name of a steep pass in Westmore-
land, and NANTWICH stands in a Cheshire valley. In
Cornwall we find NANS, NANCEMELLIN, the valley of the
mill, PENNANT, the head of the valley, and TRENANCE,
the town in the valley. It is also found in NANTUA in
Burgundy, NANCY in Lorraine, NANTES in Brittany, and
the VAL DE NANT in Neufchitel. All Chamounix
tourists will remember NANT BOURANT, NANT d'arpe-
NAZ, NANT DE TACONAY, NANT DE GRIA, NANT DANT,
1 Niebuhr, Lectures on Geography and Ethnology^ vol. ii. p. 235. Leo,
Vorlesungen, vol. i. p. 194, makes Milan meiden llan^ the great temple.
Adelung, Mithridates, vol. ii. p. 64, thinks the first syllable is mtdu^ a low
place. See Salverte, Essai sur Us Noms, vol. il p. 279 ; De Belloguct,
Ethnoginie^ vol. L p. 222,
> See PhUolcg. Proceed, p. 118. Mona and the Isle of Man are perhaps
from the Welsh mon^ separate. Cf. the Greek ijuiyos, Cambro-BritoH^
vol. ill p. 170 ; Notes and Queries, 2d series, voL ii. p. ao.
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Valleys and Plains. 23 1
NANGY, and the other nants or valleys of Savoy, which
were once, as this word proves, possessed by the same
people who now inhabit the valleys of North Wales.^
The ancient kingdom of GWENT comprised the coun-
ties of Monmouth and Glamorgan, and Monmouth still
locally goes by this name. A Newport newspaper is
called the Star of Gwent The word denotes an open
champaign country, and the uncouth Celtic word was
Latinized by the Romans into Venta. Venta Silurum
is now CAER-WENT in Monmouthshire, Venta Belgarum
IS now WIN-CHESTER, and Bennaventa is now DA-
VENT-RY. The Veneti were the people who inhabited
the open plain of Brittany, and they have left their name
in the district of LA VENDUE and the town of VANNES.
The vast plain at the mouth of the Po, where Celtic
names abound, has from the earliest times been called
VENETIA,* a name which may probably be referred to the
same root, as well perhaps as Benev-entum, now BENE-
VENTO, and Treventum, now TRIVENTO.'
Most of the Celtic roots which we have hitherto
1 Smith, DicL tf Gr, and Rom, Geogr, subvoc. Nantuates; Diefenbach,
Cdtica^ L p. 82 ; Court de Gebelin, Monde Prim. p. xxiv ; Thierry, Hist,
Gaul. vol. ii. p. 34 ; Adelung, MithridaUs^ vol. ii. p. 64 ; De Belloguet,
Ethnoghtie^ vol. i. p. 211. The singular way in which this root nant is
confined to Wales and the region of the High Alps, has suggested the
doubt whether it be an original C3rmric gloss, or not rather one adopted
from an earlier Liguro-Iberian wave of population. See Robertson, ScoU
land under her Early Kings, voL ii. p. 223.
> Vannes and Venetia may possibly be from vtnna, a fisherman. See
however p. 79, supra. Mommsen thinks the Veneti of the Adriatic were
not Celts, but Illyrians. Hisi, Rome, voL ii p. 76.
• See Guest on Early Settlements in South Britain, in Proceedings of Arch,
Instii, ioT 1849, p. 33 ; Guest in Philolog, Pr. vol L p. 10 ; Archdeacon
Willjanis, Ed, Trans, p. 535 ; Essays, p. 82 ; Cambro- Briton, vol. i. pp.
I7ff i^ ; Dtefenbach, Celtica, u. pt i p. 343 ; Mone, Gesch, Heidenth,
voL IL p. 424.
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232 The Celts.
.considered are distinctively Cymric rather than Gaelic
or Erse. Such are cefn^ bryn^ cwniy llan, tre, nanty and
gwenU Dun and llwch are common to both branches
of the Celts, while the Gaelic betty centiy and carraig
.are closely related to the Cymric/^ and craig.
The next root to be considered is decisively Gadhelic,
and is, therefore, very useful as a test-word in discrimi-
nating between the districts peopled by the two great
branches of the Celtic stock.
The word magh} a plain or field, is found in more
than a hundred Irish names, such as MAGH-ERA, MAY-
NOOTH, AR-MAGH. On the Continent it is found in
many ancient and modem names.^ In Germany we find
^a^etoburgum, now mag-DEBURG ; J/iTg-ontiacum, now
MAI-NTZ, and other names ; ^ and in north-eastern
France this root was equally common.*
The chief Cymric roots are found scattered over
Spain, Northern Italy, Switzerland, and Southern Ger-
.many ; but the root maghy the Gadhelic test-word, seems
^ Sanskrit, maht, terra. The Welsh form is maesy as in Maes Gannon,
Mesham, Maesbury, Maseriield, Masbrook, Woodmas. The maes or
MEUSE is the river of meadows. The English mathy and to mowy and the
Latin meto are cognate words. See Diefenbach, Cdtica^ i. p. 77 ; Mone,
CeUische Farschungettj p. 228 ; Sullivan, Diet, of DeriuationSy p. 291 ;
Astruc, Hist LanguedoCy p. 437 ; Pictet, Orig, Jndo-Europ. vol. iL p. loi ;
Gliick, Kdt Namerty pp. 123 — 125 ; Zeuss, Gramtnatica Cdtica, toL i
p. 5.
' The suffix inagus occurs forty-seven times in Prichard's lists. Researches^
vol. iiL
' E.g. Marcoma^us, now yLKrmagen, Noviom^^us (Newfidd), now
Ni^Tf^^n, RigoxM^us (Kingsfield), now Rheinm^^n, Borbetovn^fus, now
Worms, and Dumomj^us, a place near Cologne.
^ We have it in Kotoxvd^us, now Rouen, Noiom^us, now Nemoun,
Novioma^us Lexoviorum, now Lisieux, Cdssaccomagyxsy now Beauvais,
lyjlxomagMs, now Angers, Aiigento/wjifus, now Argento^i, Catorim4^pis»
now Chorges, and Sermanico/^^us, now Chermez.
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Cymric and Gadkelic Test-words. 235
to be confined almost entirely to the district of the lower
Rhine and its tributaries. In Switzerland it does not
appear,^ and in Italy it occurs only in the district peopled
by the intrusive Boii.* In southern and western France
it hardly occurs at all, and it is found only once or
twice in Britain.' We may therefore conclude that while
the Cymry came from the region of the Alps, the
Gadhelic branch of the Celts must have migrated from
the valleys of the Rhine and the Moselle. It seems
to have been from this district that the earliest historic
movement of the Celts took place. Three Celtic tribes
burst through the Alps ; they pillaged Rome, and, after
returning to lUyria for a while, they broke in upon
Greece, and plundered the treasures at Delphi.* They
settled for a time in Thrace, where we have local traces
^ The Swiss form maty a meadow, which appears in zermat and
AN DERM AT, is found Only in the Cymric, and not in the Gaelic portions of
Great Britain. E^. MATHERN in Monmouth and in Hereford.
* We have Rigo^M^s near Tniin, Bodinoom<^us on the Po, and
Camelioma,,fiis near Placentia.
s We have Mag\D!oxaL, now Dunstable. Close to the town is an ancient
earthwork, called the Maiden Bower, or the Maidning Bourne, which
seems to be a corruption of the Celto- Saxon name Mageburg. See
Gough*6 Camden, vol. ii. pp. 49, 55. The original name of Csesarom^i^us
was probably Dunomagus, as is indicated by the modem name dunmow.
Sitoimi^ais is, perhaps, Thetford. The position of these places is a strong
conoboration of the opinion held by many Celtic scholars, that East Anglia
was Gaelic rather than Cymric. See various Papers by the Rev. J. Davies,
in the Transactions of the Pkilologiccd Society ; and Davies, Cdtic Researches,
p. 203.
^ See Contzen, Wanderungen der KeUen^ pp. 97 — 262 ; Conybeare and
Howson, Life of St, Paul, vol i. p. 2S4 ; Zeuss, Die Deutschen^ pp. .180—
1S4 ; Rawlinson, Herodotus, vol. iii. p. 190 ; Arnold, History of Rome,
ToL L p. 522 ; Niebuhr, History of Rome, voL iL p. 524 ; Ij&tham,
Germania, pp. 83, 98 ; Prichard, Eastern Origin of Celt. Nat. pp. 104 —
1 10 ; Lindsay, Progression, p. 62 ; Duncker, Orig, Germ, pp. 36 — 39 ;
Keferstein, Kdt, Alt, vol ii. p. 348 ; Radlo^ Neue Untersuchungen, pp.
430-435-
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234 The Celts.
of a still earlier abode of a Celtic people, and then
crossing the Bosphorus, they took possession of the
central parts of Asia Minor, to which they gave the name
of Galatia, the land of the Gael, and where they long re-
tained their Celtic speech,* and the ethnical peculiarities
of their Celtic blood.* Here, curiously enough, we again
encounter this root magy which is found so abundantly in
the district from which they emigrated. In the Galatian
district we find the names of ^(O^gydus, Afa^bula,
Mag^ki^i, Afygdale, Magnesia, (twice), and the Jkfygdones,
In Thessaly, where these Celts settled for a time, we
also find two of these names, ^^j^esia, and the district
of AfygdoniaL, which lay on the banks of the Axius, a
Celtic river-name.* Magaba, is on the Halys, which is a
Celtic word, meaning salt river. In Lycia, according to
Strabo, there was an enormous rocky summit, steeply
scarped on every side, called Kpo^o?.*
^ Galatas . . . propriam lingaam eandem pene habere quam Treviros.
Jerome, Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians^ Prooemium.
s We see, from many indications in St. Paul's Epistle, that the "foolish
Galatians," who were so easily "bewitched," were like the rest of the
Gaelic race — ^fickle, enthusiastic, fond of glory and display, and at the same
time lively, witty, eloquent, and full of good sense and good feeling. The
Galatians, like all other Celtic peoples, made admirable soldiers, and OTcr-
threw the invincible phalanx of Macedonia. We recognise in them the
same military qualities which have made the charge of the Highland dans
and of the Irish regiments so terrible, and which have rendered so fiunofua
the brilliant Celtic mercenaries of France and Carthage.
* These Thessalian names, occurring as they do in Homer and Hero-
dotus, must be attributed to the earlier Celtic occupancy of this region.
^ Diefenbach, Celtica, i. p. 104. There are many other Celtic names ia
Galatia and the neighbouring parts of Bithynia and Magnesia ; such as the
Rivers iEsius, iEsyros, and iEson, which apparently contain the root a^
water. See p. 203, supra, Abr-os-tola seems to contain the root aier as
well See p. 245, infra, Vindia, Cinna, and Brianise caU to mind the roots
gwmtt cenn^ and bryn. See pp. 231, 221, 224, supra. Armorium reminds us
of Armorica. Olen^ in Galatia, reminds us of Olenseum in Britain, and
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Celts in Galatia. 235
The accumulative evidence furnished by these Celtic
names has been exhibited in a very imperfect manner,
but enough has probably been adduced to lead irresis-
tibly to the conclusion that large portions of Italy, Spain,
France, Switzerland, and Germany, were at some period
inhabited by the race which now retains its speech and
its nationality only in a few of the western comers of
Europe — Ireland, the Scotch Highlands, the Isle of Man,
Wales, and Brittany.
The following may be offered as a brief summary
of the results disclosed by the evidence of these Celtic
names.
There is no ground for any probable conjectures as to
the time and place at which the division of the Celts into
their two great branches may be supposed to have taken
place.
In central Europe we find traces of both Cymry and
Gael.
The most numerous people of primaeval Germany
were of the Gadhelic branch. They were not only the
most numerous, but they were also the earliest to arrive.
This is indicated by the fact that throughout Germany
we find no Cymric, Sclavonic, or Teutonic names which
have undergone phonetic changes in accordance with the
genius of the Erse or Gaelic languages. Hence it may
be inferred that the Gaels, on their arrival, found
Germany unoccupied, and that their immigration was
therefore of a peaceful character.
Olin in GanL Agannia reminds us of Agennum in Gaul. An Episcopus
Taviensis came from Galatia to attend the Nicene Council. We have
also the apparently Celtic names Acitorizacum, Ambrenna, Eccobriga,
Landrosia, Roslogiacum, and the River Siberis. Diefenbach, Cdtica^ ii
pt. L pp. 256, 313, &C. ; Thierry, Histoiredes Gaulois^ vol. L pp. 145, seq, ;
De Belloguet, EthnoginU^ vol L p. 249.
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^S6 . The Celts,
Next came the Cymry. They came " as conquerors,
and in numbers they were fewer than the Gaels whom
they found in possession. This we gather from the
fact that there are comparatively few pure Cymric
names in Germany, but a large number of Gadhelic
names which have been Cymricized. From the topo-
graphical distribution of these names we infer that the
Gaels arrived from the east, and the Cymry from the
south.^
The large number of Cymric names in northern Italy,*
and the fact that several of the passes of the Alps * bear
Cymric names, seem also to indicate the quarter whence
the Cymric invasion proceeded.
Lastly came the Germans from the north — ^they were
conquerors, and fewer in number than either the Cymry
^ See Meyer, in Bunsen's Phil, of Univ. Hist vol. i. p. 148 ; and Mone,
Celtische Forschungen, In the lists given by Keferetein (vol. it pp. i — loi)
there are about 2,400 German words which bear more or less resemblance
to their Celtic synonyms. The resemblance, in many cases, is only what is
due to the common Aryan source ; but, from other instances, we may fairly
infer the existence, for a time, of a Celtic remnant among the Teutonic
conquerors. On Celtic names in Germany see Leo, Vorlemngm, vol. i. p.
194, seq. ; Mahn, Namm Berlin und JCdln^ p. 7 ; Keferstein, JCdt Alt.
vol. ii. ; Mone, Celtische Forschungen, passim ; MiiUer, Marken d. Vttterl.
pp. 117 — 128 ; Duncker, Origines Germ. pp. 44 — 7a
■ We find the roots llan^ gwent^ a/on, is, stour, chvr, tre^ ter. Sec pp.
229, 231, &c ; Williams, in vol. xiii. of Trans, of Royal Society of Edin.
passim; Latham, note to Prichard's Eastern Origin, pp. 121 — 133. A
large number of words are common to the Celtic and LAtin languages
— lists will be found in Keferstein, Kdt. Alterth, vol. ii. pp. 102 — 172;
Newman, RegcU Rome, pp. 1 7 — 25 ; Donaldson, English Ethnograp^^
p. 37 ; and see Diez, Etym. Worterbuch, passim. Compare, for instance,
the words sagitta and saighead, lorica and luireach, tdum and tailm,
' Celtic names are very numerous in the Alp^. See Meyer, Ortsnamen;
Schott, Deut. Pied. Col. pp. 216, 225; Keferstein, Kelt. Alt. vol. ii. p. 375 ;
Latham, in Prichard's Eastern Origin, p. 84, seq. ; Zeuss, Deutschen, pp.
228—238.
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Celts in Germany and France. 237
or the Gael. They have Germanized many Gadhelic
names which had previously been Cymricized.^
The names of northern and central France are still
more decisively Celtic than those of Germany.^ In
Brittany the Armorican, a language closely allied to the
Welsh, is still spoken, and the local names, with few ex-
ceptions, are derived from Cymric roots, and are in a
much purer and more easily recognisable form than in
other parts. But we find that the same names which
occur in Brittany are also scattered over the rest of
France, though more sparingly, and in more corrupted
forms. Brandes « has compiled a list of more than three
hundred Breton names, which also occur in other parts
of France.* In the north-east of France we find a few
^ See Mone, CelHsche Forschungen, p. 172.
' Though the Celtic tongue was spoken m France down to the sixth
century, very few Celtic words have found their place in the French lan-
guage. A good many, however, linger in the provincial dialects. A list
will be found in Courson, Histoire des Peuples Bretons^ vol. 1. pp. 31—41.
But without the evidence of local names we should have no conception of
the real amount of the Celtic element in France. See Milman, Hist. LaU
Christianity t voL vi. p. 340 ; Diez, Gram, Rom, Spr, vol. i. p. 80 ; Addung,
Mithridates^ vol. il p. 35. On Celtic names in France, see Diefenbach,
Cdtica; Gliick, Kdtischen Namen ; De Belloguet, Ethnoghtie Caulois ;
Kennedy, mPhilolog. Trans, for 1855, p. 166 ; and two silly books — Astruc,
Hist. Nat, de Languedoc^ pp. 422 — ^457, and Court de Gebelin, Monde
Primitiff vol. v, pp. xx — ^xxv.
' Das Ethnographische Verhaltniss der Kdten und Germanen, pp. 257 —
261. Courson, Histoire des Peuples Bretons, vol. i. pp. 42 — ^45, gives a
similar list Cf. Souvestre, Les Demiers Britons, vol. ii. p. 164, on the two
races inhabiting respectively the mountains and the plains.
* Thus we have avon four times, bryn nine times, tre thirty times, as
well as Uan, is, ar, dwr, garw, &c The theory has been advanced that
the Bretons of Brittany were a colony from Cornwall or Devon. No doubt
there was a great amount of intercourse. The Cornwall and Devon of
France afforded refuge to the emigrants expelled by the Saxons from
the Cornwall and Devon of England ; but the local names of France
prove conclusively that the Bretons were once more widely spread.
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238 The Celts.
Gaelic and Erse ^ roots, which are altogether absent from
the local nomenclature of the west, a fact which suggests
that the Gaels of Germany may have crossed this part
of France on their way to the British Isles.
But in south-western France— the region between the
Garonne and the Pyrenees — ^the Celtic names, which are
so universally diffused over the other portions of the
kingdom, are most conspicuously absent The names
which we find in this district are not even Indo-Euro-
pean,^ but belong to quite another family of human
speech — the Turanian, which includes the languages
which are now spoken by the Turks, the Magyars, the
Finns and Lapps of Northern Europe, and their distant
congeners, the Basques, who inhabit the western portion
of the Pyrenees. These Spanish mountaineers, who now
number three-quarters of a million, seem to be the sole
unabsorbed remnant of the powerful nation which once
occupied the greater portion of Spain, the half of
France, the whole of Sardinia and Corsica, and large
portions of Italy. Whether these Iberians, or Euska-
rians as they are called, were the earliest inhabitants of
Spain, or whether they were preceded by Celtic tribes,
is still a disputed question among ethnologists. It is
doubtful whether they crossed into Spain by the Straits
of Gibraltar, or whether they crept along the coast of
the Mediterranean from Liguria, and penetrated by the
north-eastern defiles of the Pyrenees.* The whole sub-
See Palgrave, Eng, Com, voL L p. 382 ; Turner, Angto-Saxonsj voL iL
p. 213.
^ The Glossa Malperga^ recently disinterred by Leo, contains the laws of
a Belgian tribe, written in a hmguage nearly akin to Irish.
* Pott, Art. Jndo-Germ. Sprach-Stammy in Ersch und Gruber, p. 250 ;
Arndt, Europ, Spr, pp. 19 — 23 ; Brace, Races of Old Worlds p. 252.
' The absence of Iberic names from Easterti Europe and Asia seem to
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Euskarians. 239
ject of the ancient ethnology of Spain has been dis-
cussed in an admirable and exhaustive manner by Baron
Wilhelm von Humboldt, in his work entitled " Priifung
der Untersuchungen uber die alter Bewohner Hispa-
niens."^ The materials of this investigation consist
chiefly of the ancient names which are found in Pliny,
Ptolemy, Strabo, and the Itineraries. These names he
endeavours to trace to Celtic or Euskarian roots, and
compares them with the Basque names now found in the
Asturias. One of the most prevalent words is asta^ a
rock, which we have in ASTURIA, ASTORGA, asta, ASTE-
GUIETA, ASTIGARRAGA, ASTOBIZA, ASTULEZ, and many
Other names. The root ura^ water, occurs in ASTURIA,^
ILURIA, URIA, VERURIUM, URBIACA, and URBINA.
Iturria, a fountain, is found in the names ITURISSA,
TURAS, TURIASO, TURDETANI, and TURIGA, The char-
acteristic Euskarian terminations are «m, pa, etani,
etania^ gis, ilia, and ula. The characteristic initial syl-
lables are al, ar, as, bae, bi, bar, ber, cal, ner, sal, si, tai,
and tu. These roots are found chiefly in eastern and
northern Spain, in the valley of the Tagus, and on the
make it probable that the Iberians crossed from Africa, and spread over
Spain, and thence to France, the Italian coast land, and the Mediterranean
Islands. The Celts seem to have been the conquering, and the Iberians
the conquered people. Pott, Indo-Germ. Spr, p. 25. See, however,
Nicbuhr, Hist. Rome, vol ii. p. 520. There appear to be a few Euskarian
names in Thrace. Humboldt, Priifung, pp. 118— 120.
^ On Iberic names see also Zeuss, Die DetUschen und die Nachharstdmme,
pp. 160 — 164 ; Prichard, Researches into the Physical History 0/ Mankind,
voL iiL p. 20 — 48 ; Diefenbach, Celtica, iL pp. I — 52 ; Robertson, Scotland
under her Early Kings^ vol. iL p. 221 ; Adelung, Mithridates, vol. ii. pp.
12—30. The work by S. F. W. Hoffmann, Die Iberer im Westen und
Osten, I have not been able to procure.
< On the name Asturia see Humboldt, Priifung, pp. 23, 30 ; Diefenbach,
Cdtica, ii. part i. p. 312, and L p. 27.
■ See p. 55, su^a.
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240 The Celts.
southern coast, while in Galicia, in the' valleys of the
Minho ^ and the Guadiana, and in southern Portugal, the
names are purely Celtic,^ and there seems to have been
no infusion of an Euskarian element. Various fortresses
in the Iberic district bear Celtic names, while in the
mountainous district of central Spain a fusion of the
two races would seem to have taken place, probably by
a Celtic conquest of Iberic territory, and the Celtiberians^
as they are called, separated the pure Celts from the pure
Iberians.
In Aquitania proper * there is hardly a single Celtic
name — all are Iberic or Romance. In Italy Iberic
names are not uncommon,^ and it has been thought that
some faint traces of a Turanian, if not of an Iberic po-
pulation are perceptible in the names of north-western
Africa, of Sicily, and even of the extreme west of
Ireland.^
In the British Isles, the Gaelic, the Erse, the Manx,
and the Welsh, are still living languages. Just as in
Silesia and Bohemia the Sclavonic is now gradually
1 The Mynnow or Mynwy, on which Monmouth stands, is the same
name.
< Dr. Latham has noticed the significant fact that the Celtic roots mag
and duriy which occur so abundantly in other districts peopled by the Celts,
are not found in Spain. This may indicate that the Spanish Celts woe
separated from their kinsfolk at an early period.
» On Euskarian names in France see Humboldt, Prufung^ pp. 91 — 95.
4 We find uria in Apulia, astura near Antium, asta in Liguria, as w^
as liguria, basta, biturgia, and others which are compounded with the
Euskarian roots, asta^ a rock, ura^ water, and ilia or ulitiy a dty. Hum-
boldt, Prufungy pp. Ill— 118.
0 Professor Keyser, of Christiania, has endeavoured to prove a wide
extension of Iberic tribes over the extreme Western shores of Europe.
See Prichard, Report on Ethnology to Brit. Assoc, in 1847, p. 246 ; Meyer,
ib, ; Wilson, Frehist. Annals^ P« ll ; Robertson, Early Kings, voL L
P-33.
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Retrocession of Celts in England. 241
receding before the German language, so in the British
Isles a similar process has been going on for more than
fourteen centuries. We have documentary evidence of
this process. The ancient documents relating to the
parishes north of the Forth, exhibit a gradually in-
creasing proportion of Teutonic names. In the Taxatio
of the twelfth century, only 2 J per cent, are Teutonic ;
in the Chartularies, from the twelfth to the fourteenth
century, the proportion rises to 4 per cent., and in the
tax rolls of 1554 to nearly 25 per cent^ In the south
of the island a similar retrocession of the Celtic speech
may be traced. Thus in the will of Alfred, Dorset,
Somerset, Wilts, and Devon, are enumerated as " Wealh-
cynne," a phrase which proves that these counties were
then thoroughly Celtic in blood and language, although
politically they belonged to the Anglo-Saxon common-
wealth.^ Dr. Guest has shown that the valleys of the
Frome and the Bristol Avon formed an intrusive Welsh
wedge, protruding into the Saxon district.' Athelstan
found Britons and Saxons in joint occupation of the city
of Exeter. He expelled the former, and drove them
beyond the Tamar, and fixed the Wye as the boundary
of the Northern Cymry. Harold, son of Godwin,
ordered that every Celt found east of OfTa's Dyke should
have his right hand struck off.* But even so late as
the time of Henry II. Herefordshire was not entirely
Anglicized, and it was only in the reign of Henry VIII.
that Monmouthshire was first numbered among the
English counties. In remote parts of Devon the
1 Chalmers, Caledonia^ vol. i. pp. 484, 485.
* Palgiave, English CommonwecUth^ vol. i. p. 41a
> Archaolog, Journal^ vol. xvi.
* Lappenbcrg, Atiglo-Saxan Kings, vol i. p. 231.
R
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242 The Celts.
ancient Cymric speech feebly lingered on till the reign
of Elizabeth, while in Cornwall it was the general
medium of intercourse in the time of Henry VIII. In
the time of Queen Anne it was confined to five or six
villages in the western portion of the county, and it has
only become extinct within the lifetime of living men
(A.D. 1777)^ while the Celtic race has survived the ex-
tinction of their language with little intermixture of
Teutonic blood. In the west of Glamorgan, in Flint,
Denbigh, and part of Montgomery, the English language
has almost entirely displaced the Welsh, and in the
other border counties it is rapidly encroaching. In fact,
we may now see in actual operation the same gradual
process which has taken place throughout the rest of
Britain. In Wales, the change of language, now in pro-
gress, is accompanied by very little infusion of Saxon
blood. The same must also have been the case at an
earlier period. In Mercia and Wessex, at all events,
we must believe that the bulk of the people is of Celtic
blood. The Saxon keels cannot have transported any
very numerous population, and, no doubt, the ceorls, or
churls, long continued to be the nearly pure-blooded de-
scendants of the aboriginal Celts of Britain.^
These theoretical conclusions are thoroughly borne
out by the evidence of the local names. Throughout
the whole island almost every river-name is Celtic,
most of the shire-names contain Celtic roots,* and a fair
1 Gough*s Camden, vol L p. 15 ; Halliwell, Cornwall^ pp. 167 — 174.
Many Cornish words still survive, as quUquin^ a frog.
> Palgrave, English Common, voL up. 26 ; Davies, in Philolog, Trams.
for 1857, p. 75 ; Diefenbadi, CeUka^ ii. part ii. p. 140.
s Cambridge, ComwaU, Cumberland, Devon, Dorset, Durham, Glouoes*
ter, Hertford, Huntingdon, Kent, Lancaster, Lincoln, Monmouth, North-
umberland, Oxford, Worcester, and York, together with all the Welsh.
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Celt and Saxon. 243
sprinkling of names of hills, valleys, and fortresses, bears
witness that the Celt was the aboriginal possessor of the
soil ; while in the border counties of Salop, Hereford,
Gloucester, Dorset, Somerset, and Devon, and in the
mountain fastnesses of Derbyshire and Cumberland, not
only are the names of the great natural features of the
country derived from the Celtic speech, but we find oc-
casional village-names, with the prefixes Ian and tre^
interspersed among the Saxon patronymics. A large
number of the chief ancient centres of population, such
as LONDON, WINCHESTER, GLOUCESTER, EXETER, LIN-
COLN, YORK, MANCHESTER, LANCASTER, and CARLISLE
bear Celtic names, while the Teutonic town names
usually indicate by their suffixes that they originated in
isolated family settlements in the uncleared forest,^ or
arose from the necessities of traffic in the neighbourhood
of some frequented ford.^ These facts, taken together,
prove that the Saxon immigrants, for the most part, left
the Celts in possession of the towns, and subdued, each
for himself, a portion of the unappropriated waste. It
is obvious therefore, that a very considerable Celtic
element of population must, for a long time, have sub-
sisted, side by side with the Teutonic invaders, without
much mutual interference. In time the Celts acquired
the language of the more energetic race, and the two
peoples at last ceased to be distinguishable. Just in the
same way, during the last two centuries, Anglo-Saxon
colonists have been establishing themselves among the
aborigines of North America, of the Cape, and of New
and Scotch shires, except Anglesea, Montgomery, Haddington, Kircud-
bright, Stirling, Sutherland, and Wigton.
1 E,g. Buckingham, Reading, Derby, &c.
s E,g, Stafford, Bedford, Chehnsford, &c
R 2
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244
Tfu Celts,
Zealand, and the natives have not been at once extermi-
nated, but are being slowly absorbed and assimilated by
the superior vigour of the incoming race.
To exhibit the comparative amount of the Celtic, the
Saxon, and the Danish elements of population in various
portions of the island, an analysis has been made of the
names of villages, hamlets, hills, woods, valleys, &c^
in the counties of Suffolk, Surrey, Devon, Cornwall, and
Monmouth.
Per centage of
Names from the
Suffolk.
Surrey.
Devon.
Corn-
wall.
Mon-
mouth.
Isle of
Man.
Ire-
land.
Celtic ....
Anglo-Saxon .
Norse ....
2
90
8
8
91
I
32
65
3
80
20
0
76
24
0
59
20
21
80
19
I
By far the greater number of Celtic names in Eng-
land are of the Cymric type. Yet, as we have already
seen,2 there is a thin stream of Gadhelic names which
extends across the island from the Thames to the
Mersey, as if to indicate the route by which the Gaels
passed across to Ireland, impelled, probably, by the suc-
ceeding hosts of Cymric invaders.
The Cymry held the lowlands of Scotland as far as
the Perthshire hills.^ The names in the valleys of the
^ River names are excluded from the computation.
« E,g. Dun»«w, Ouse, &c. See pp. 204, 233, supra.
8 On the limits of the Cymry and Gael in Scotland, see Gamett, "On
the relation of the Picts and Gael," in Philolog. Proceed, vol. i. and Essays^
pp. 196—204; Chalmers, Caledonia^ vol. i. ; Robertson, Scotland under her
Early Kings, vol. ii. pp. 360—381 ; Skene, Hist, of the Highlanders, voL i.
pp. 67—87 ; Donaldson, English Ethnography, pp. 36, 37 ; Diefenbach,
Celtica, ii. pt. ii. pp. 176, seq.
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Estimate of tJie Amount of the Celtic Element. 245
Clyde and the Forth are Cymric, not Gaelic. At a later
period the Scots,^ an Irish sept, crossed over into Argyle,
and gradually extended their dominion over the whole
of the north-west of Scotland, encroaching here and
there on the Cymry who held the lowlands, and who
were probably the people who go by the name of
Picts. In the ninth century the monarchy of the Picts
was absorbed by the Scots. The Picts, however, still
maintained a distinct ethnical existence, for we find
them fighting in the battle of the Standard against
Stephen. In the next century they disappear myste-
riously from history.*
To establish the point, that the Picts, or the nation,
whatever was its name, that held central Scotland, was
Cymric, not Gaelic, we may refer to the distinction
already mentioned * between ben and pen, Ben is con-
fined to the west and north ; pen to the east and south.
Inver and aber are also useful test-words in discrimi-
nating between the two branches of the Celts. The
difference between the two words is dialectic only ; the
etymology and the meaning are the same — a confluence
of waters, either of two rivers, or of a river with the sea.
Aber occurs repeatedly in Brittany,* and is found Tn
about fifty Welsh names, such as ABERDARE, ABERGA-
VENNY, ABERGELE, ABERYSTWITH, and BARMOUTH, a
corruption of Abermaw. In England we find -^^^rford
in Yorkshire, and Berwick in Northumberland and
^ In ancient records Scotia means Ireland. North Britain was called
Nova Scotia. In the twelfth century the Clyde and Forth were the
Southern boundary of what was then called Scotland. Palgrave, EngUsh
Comnunrwealth^ vol. i. p. 420 ; vol. iv. p. 308.
* Palgrave, En^ish Commonwealth^ vol. i. p. 418,
» See p. 220, supra,
* E,g, ABERVRACK, AVRANCHES, &C.
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246 The Celts.
Sussex ; and it has been thought that the name of the
HUMBER is a corruption of the same root. Invety the
Erse and Gaelic form, is common in Ireland, where aber
is unknown. Thus we find places called INVER, in
Antrim, Donegal, and Mayo, and INVERMORE, in Gal-
way and in Mayo. In Scotland, the invers and abers
are distributed in a curious and instructive manner. If
we draw a line across the map from a point a little south
of Inverary, to one a little north of Aberdeen, we shall
find that (with very few exceptions) the invers lie to the
north-west of the line,^ and the abers to the south-east
of it^ This line nearly coincides with the present
southern limit of the Gaelic tongue, and probably also
with the ancient division between the Picts and the
Scots. Hence, we may conclude that the Picts, a people
belonging to the Cymric branch of the Celtic stock,
and whose language has now ceased to be anywhere
vernacular, occupied the central and eastern districts
of Scotland, as far north as the Grampians; while the
Gadhelic Scots have retained their language, and have
given their name to the whole country. The local
names prove, moreover, that in Scotland the Cymry did
not encroach on the Gael, but the Gael on the Cymry.
The intrusive names are invers^ which invaded the land
of the abers. Thus on the shore of the Frith of Forth
we find a few invers among the abers? The process of
change is shown by an old charter, in which King David
1 Inverary, Inverness, Inveraven, Inverury, Inveroran, Inveilochy, Inver-
cannich, Inverfankaig, Invercaslie, Inverallen, Inverkeithnie, Inveramsay,
Inverbroom, Invereshie, Invergarry, Invemahavon.
' Arbroath or Aberbrothwick, Abercom, Aberdeen, Aberdour, Abcr-
nethy, Abertay, Aberledy, Abergeldie, Abemyte, Aberfeldie, Aberfoyle.
• E.g. Inveresk, near Edinburgh, Inverkeithing in Fife, Inverbervie in
Kincardine.
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Southern L imit of the Gael^Inver and A ber, 247
grants the monks of May, " Inverin qui fuit Aberin."
So Abernethy became Invemethy, although the old
name is now restored.^ The Welsh word uchely high,
may also be adduced to prove the Cymric affinities of
the Picts. This word does not exist in either the Erse
or the Gaelic languages, and yet it appears in the name .
of the OCHIL Hills, in Perthshire. In Ayrshire, and
again in Linlithgow, we find places called OCHIL-TREE ;
and there is an UCHEL-TRE in Galloway. The suffix in
this case is undoubtedly the characteristic Cymric word
tre^ a dwelling.^ Again, the Erse bally^^ a town, occurs
in 2000 names in Ireland ; and, on the other hand, is
entirely absent from Wales and Brittany. In Scotland
this most characteristic test-word is found frequently in
the inver district, while it never appears among the abers.
The evidence of these names makes it impossible to
deny that the Celts of the Scottish lowlands must
have belonged to the Cymric branch of the Celtic
stock.
The ethnology of the Isle of Man may be very com-
pletely illustrated by means of local names. The map
of the island contains about 400 names, of which about
20 per cent, are English, 21 per cent, are Norwegian, and
59 per cent, are Celtic. These Celtic names are all of
the most characteristic Erse type. It would appear that
npt a single colonist from Wales ever reached the island,
which, from the mountains of Carnarvon, is seen like a
^ See Kemble, Saxons in England^ vol. ii. pp. 4, 5 ; Chalmers, Caledonia,
voL i. p. 480 ; Latham, Ethnology of Brit. Is. pp. 80, 8i. Skene, History
of the Highlanders, voL i. p. 74, and Diefenbach, Cdtica, i. p. 23, think that
too much ethnological importance has been attributed to the distinction
between inver and aber,
* See p. 228, supra.
* The root of bally is found in the words zmj//, vallum^ bailey j &c.
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248 The Celts.
faint blue cloud upon the water. There are ninety-six
names beginning with Balluy and the names of more than
a dozen of the highest mountains have the prefix SlieUy
answering to the Irish Slievh or Sliabh, The Isle" of
Man has the Curraghy the Loughs, and the Aliens of
Ireland faithfully reproduced. It is curious to observe
that the names which denote places of Christian worship^
are all Norwegian ; they are an indication of the late date
at which Heathenism must have prevailed.*
^ In the Channel Islands the names of all the towns and villages are
derived from the names of saints, indicating that before the introduction of
Christianity these islands were inhabited only by a sparse population of
fishermen and shepherds. Cf. Latham, Channel /j. p. 311.
' An account of the heathen superstitions and legends, which still
linger in the Island, will be found in Train, IsU of Man, voL ii. pp.
114— 184.
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Historic Value of Local Natkes. 249
CHAPTER X.
THE HISTORIC VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES.
Contrast between Roman and Saxon civilisation^ as shown by Local Names—
Roman roads — " Gates''* — Bridges and fords— Celtic bridges -^Deficiency of
inns — Cold Harbour — Saxon dykes — Roman walls — Saxon forts — **Bury^^
— Ancient camps — Chester ^ caster , and caer — Stations of the Roman Legions
— Frontier districts — Castile — The Mark — Pfyny Devises — Ethnic shire*
names of England— Intrusive colonization.
There is a striking contrast between the characteristics
of Saxon and Roman names. The Saxon civilization
was domestic, the genius of Rome was imperial ; the
Saxons colonized, the Romans conquered. Hence, the
traces of Roman rule which remain upon the map are
surprisingly few in number. Throughout the whole
island, we scarcely find a single place of human habi-
tation denoted by a name which is purely Roman.^ The
names of our English villages, with few exceptions, are
Scandinavian or Teutonic ; while the appellations of the
chief centres of population and of the great natural land-
marks— ^the rivers and the mountains — are the legacy of
a still earlier race.
The character of Roman names is very different.
Rome, with her eagle eye, could cast a comprehensive
1 Exceptions are speen, anciently Spinae, pontefract, caerleon,
FORCHESTER, and CHESTER.
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250 Historic Value of Local Natnes.
glance over a province or an empire, and could plan and
execute the vast physical enterprises, necessary for its
subjugation, for its material progress, or for its defence.
The Romans were essentially a constructive race. We
still gaze with wonder on the massive fragments of
their aqueducts, their bridges, their amphitheatres, their
fortresses, and their walls ; we still find their altars, their
inscriptions, and their coins. The whole island is inter-
sected by a network of Roman roads, admirably planned,
and executed with a constructive skill which is able to
excite the admiration even of modem engineers. These
are the true monuments of Roman greatness.
The Saxons were not road-makers. Vast works
undertaken with a comprehensive imperial purpose were
beyond the range of Saxon civilization. The Saxons
even borrowed their name for a road from the Latin
language. The Roman strata^ or paved roads, became
the Saxon streets. This word street often enables us to
recognise the lines of Roman road which, straight as
an arrow-course, connect the chief strategic positions in
the island.
Thus, from the fortified port of Lymne an almost
disused road runs across the Kentish Hills to Canter-
bury, bearing the name of STONE STREET. From the
fortified port of Richborough the road which is
called WATLING^ STREET went to Canterbury and
London, and thence, by STONY STRATFORD (the
paved Street-ford), to Chester, the "castra" of the
northern army. RYKNIELD STREET led from Tyne-
mouth, through York, Derby, and Birmingham, to St
David's. ICKNIELD STREET led from Norwich to Dor-
1 Probably from vadla^ a mendicant pilgrim.
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Roman Roads, 25 r
Chester and Exeter. The ERMIN^ STREET joined
London and Lincoln. The Roman road by which sick
men journeyed from London to bathe in the hot springs
at Bath, went, in Saxon times, by the appropriate name
of AKEMAN STREET. The Westmoreland mountain called
HIGH STREET, derives its name from the Roman road
which crosses it at a height of 2,700 feet.^
Even where the Roman roads have become obliterated
by the plough, we may often trace their direction by
means of the names of towns, which proclaim the position
they occupied on the great lines of communication.
Such are the names of ARDWICK LE STREET in York-
shire, CHESTER LE STREET in Durham, STRETTON,
STRATTON, STREATHAM, STREATLEY, and Several places
called STRETFORD or STRATFORD, all of which inform
us that they were situated on some line of Roman road.^
Roman roads which do not bear the name of street
are often called Portways, There are nine Portways in
different parts of the kingdom.* The FOSSWAY^ also was
a Roman road, running from Cornwall to Lincoln.
In the Scandinavian districts of the island the word
gate^ is commonly used to express a road or street, as in
^ Probably from earm, a pauper. See Lappenberg, Anglo-Saxon Kings ^
vol i p. 51 ; Poste, Britannic Researches^ p. 94 ; Horsley, Brit. Rom,
p. 388.
• Ferguson, Northmen in Cumberland^ p. 49.
' Hartshome, Salopia Antiqua, p. 238 ; Wright, Wanderings^ p. 326.
^ Hart&horne, Salopia Antiqua^ p. 272.
' Foss is a Saxon synonym for a dyke. The source seems to be the
Latin _/&jjfl.
• The Danish word gaia means a street or road. The Anglo-Saxon geat
means a gate. The distinction is analogous to that which exists in the case
of the word ford. See p. 160, supra. The one is a passage along^ the other
a passage through. The root is seen in the German verb gehen^ and the
English go. Compare the Sanskrit gati^ and the Zend g&tUy which both
mean a road. From the same primary meaning of a passage, we obtain
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252 Historic Value of L ocal Names.
in the cise of harrowgate. In York, Leeds, Lincoln,
and other northern towns, the older streets usually bear
this suffix. In Leeds we find BRIGGATE or Bridge
Street, and KIRKGATE or Church Street In York this
suffix was borne by no less than twenty of the streets, as
in the case of micklegate, walmgate, jubbergate,
FEASEGATE, GODRAMGATE, CASTLEGATE, SKELMER-
GATE, PETERSGATE, MARYGATE, FISHERGATE, and
STONEGATE. We find MILLGATE STREET and ST.
MARYSGATE in Manchester, and COWGATE and CANON-
GATE in Edinburgh.
In the South the word gate usually takes the sense of
the passage through a town wall, as in the case of NEW-
GATE, BISHOPSGATE, and the other gates of London. In
the name of HIGHGATE, however, we have the sense of
a road.
The passes through lines of hill or cliff are frequently
denoted by this root. Thus REIGATE is a contraction of
Ridgegate, the passage through the ridge of the North
Downs. GATTON, in the same neighbourhood, is the
town at the passage, caterham and godstone may
possibly be referred to the same root, as well as GAT-
COMBE in the Isle of Wight RAMSGATE, MARGATE,
WESTGATE, KINGSGATE, and SANDGATE, are the passages
to the shore through the line of Kentish cliffs. In
gut^ the intestinal passage, and the nautical term gat^ a passage through a
narrow channel, as the cattegat. A gate is the passage into a field. A
man's gait is the way he goes ; his gaiters are his goers. Oxktxgates is the
Sussex provincialism for otherways. See Warton, Seaboard and the Dawn^
vol. ii. p. 28. The ghats^ or ghauts, of India are the passages to the river-
side, and the passes through the western line of hills. See Pictet, Orig.
Indo-Europ, pt ii. p. 292; Worsaae, Danes and NonuegianSy p. 40;
Ferguson, Northmen, p. 49 ; Leo, Anglo-Saxon Names, p. 63 ; Diefenbach,
Vergleich, IVorterduch, vol. ii. p. 394; Philolog. Proc, vol. L p. 40; and
several letters in the Guardian, Dec 1S61.
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Roads and Bridges, 253
Romney Marsh gut takes the place of gate^ as in the
case of JERVIS GUT, CLOBESDEN GUT, and DENGE MARSH
GUT.
The difficulties of travelling must formerly have inter-
posed great obstacles in the way of commercial inter-
course. Local names afford various intimations that the
art of bridge-building, in which the Romans had ex-
celled,^ was not retained by the Anglo-Saxons. Thus
the station on the Tyne, which in Roman times had
been called Pons JSX\\^ received from the Anglians the
name GATESHEAD, or, as we may translate it, "road's
end ; " an indication, it would seem, of the destruction of
the bridge. At the spot where the Roman road crosses
the Aire, the name of pontefract (Ad Pontem
Fractum) reminds us that the broken Roman bridge
must have remained unrepaired during a period long
enough for the naturalization of the new name, and the
name of STRATFORD LE BOW contains internal evidence
that the dangerous narrow Saxon ford over the Lea was
not replaced by a " bow," or '* arched bridge," till after
|:he time of the Norman conquest.^
But nothing shows more conclusively the unbridged
state of the streams than the fact that where the great
lines of Roman road are intersected by rivers, we so
^ The importance attached by the Romans to the art of bridge-building
is indicated by the fact that the chief ecclesiastical functionary bore the
name of the bridge-builder— -P<?/i/^;c. See Donaldson, Varronianus^
p. 270.
■ The piles on which the Roman bridge rested were discovered in 1771,
Bruce, Roman Wall, p. 130. There seems to have been another bridge
built by MWws on the continuation of the Roman road northward. Six
miles from Newcastle we find the village-name of ponteland, apparently
from Ad Pontem iEliamrai. Baxter, Gloss, p. 196. There was a Roman
bridge at paunton, A.d Pontem. Baxter, Glossarium, p. 7,
• The bridge was built by Matilda, Queen of Henry \ .
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254 Historic Value of Local Names,
frequently find important towns bearing the Saxon suffix
-ford} At OXFORD, HEREFORD, HERTFORD, BEDFORD,
STRATFORD ON AVON, STAFFORD, WALLINGFORD, GUIL-
FORD, and CHELMSFORD, considerable streams had to be
forded. In the kingdom of Essex, within twenty miles
of London, we find the names ILFORD, ROMFORD,
STAPLEFORD, PASSINGFORD, STANFORD, WOODFORD,
CHINGFORD, STORTFORD. OLD FORD, and STRATFORD.
We find the same state of things in Kent. The Medway
had to be forded at AYLESFORD, the Darent at DART-
FORD and at OTFORD, and the Stour at ASHFORD.
The great' deficiency of bridges is still more forcibly
impressed upon us when we remember that while the
names of so many large towns present the suffix ford,
there are only a very few which terminate in bridge.
We have TUNBRIDGE, WEYBRIDGE, UXBRIDGE, STOCK-
BRIDGE, CAMBRIDGE,* and a few more, all of which stand
on small and easily-bridged streams. But in all these
cases the English form of suffix seems to show the
comparatively modern date of the erection, and names
which take a Saxon form, such as BRIXTON, or BRISTOL,
anciently Bricgstow, are extremely rare.
It should be noticed that ponty the Welsh word for a
bridge, is derived from the Latin, probably through the
monks, who were the great bridge-builders. Nevertheless
it has been thought that the art of bridge-building was
1 Hartshome, Salopia Antiqua, pp. 262 — 265.
> CambonVam, the ancient name of Cambridge, gives us the Celtic root
rhydf a ford, which we find also in ^^^k/ecina, the British name of OzioTd,
and in Hert-ior^ (Rhyd-ford), where, probably, we have two synonymous
elements. The Celtic rhod^ a roadstead, and rkyd^ or red^ a ford, bear
much the same relation to each other as the Norse Jjord and the Saxon
ford. See p. 160, supra; Gliick, Kdtischen Namm, p. 25; Addtmg,
MUhridates, vol. iii. p. 68 ; Diefenbach, CeUUa, L p. 5S.
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Bridges and Fords. 255
known at a very early period to the Celtic nations, and Weis
subsequently lost In the most purely Celtic parts of
Spain and France, a very lai^e number of the names of
riverain cities terminate in briga and brivUy which, in the
opinion of many Celtic scholars, must have meant a
bridge.i They think it is an ancient Aryan word, older
than the epoch of the separation of the Teutonic and
Celtic stems, and which disappeared from the Celtic
speech at the time when the art of bridge-building was
lost.*
The hardships incident to travelling must have been
much increased by the fewness of houses of entertain-
ment along the roads. Where no religious house existed
^ Thus the ancient name of Brivisara has been replaced by the modem
equivalent, Pontoise.
' In Spain we have Turobriga, Mirobriga, Mertobriga, Segobriga, Laco-
briga, Arcobriga, Jnliobriga, and others, thirty-five in all. In Celtic Gaul
there are Eburobriga, Limnobriga, Amagenbriga, and Brigiosum; and
Brivate and Durocobrivis in Britain. An allied fonn is bria^ which we
we find in Mesembria, Selymbria, and Poltyobria, in the Celtic colonies on
the Euxine. Brescia was in the Celtic part of Italy. The names of
Bregentz, Braganza, Brian9on, and perhaps of the Brigantes, contain the
same root. For lists of these names see EHefenbach, Celtica^ ii. pL i. p. 317 ;
Prichard, Researches, vol. iii. pp. 30, 120. The word brigand mzy not im-
probably be derived from the name of the Brigantes, who served as
medbeval mercenaries. See Dufresne, voL L pp. 775 — 778; Diefenbach,
Orig. Eur. p. 271 ; Celtica, i. p. 17; Diez, Etym. Worterb. s. voc. ;
Rawlinson, Herodotus, voL iii. p. 220 ; Prichard, Eastern Origin of Celtic
Nat. p. 120; Humboldt, Prii/ung, pp. 82 — 86, 144; Salverte, Essai sur
Us NomSy vol. ii. p. 258 ; Radlof, Neue Untersuchungen, pp. 304, 305 ;
ZeuBS, Grammatica Celtica, vol. i. p. 10 1 ; vol. ii. pp. 758, 772 ; Hume,
Gtogr. Terms, p. 10; Cambro-Briton, vol. iii. p. 285; De Belloguet,
Etknoginie, vol. i. pp. 214 — ^217 ; Baxter, Gloss, p. 50. Gluck, as usual,
laments the sad ignorance displayed by all precedmg writers, except hunself
and Zeuss, and asserts that the root is the same as that of the German berg,
the Irish brig, and the Cymric bre, a hill. Kelt. Namen, pp. 126, 130.
On the whole I am inclined to believe that the words briga and briva are
unconnected, briga meaning a hill, and btiva a bridge.
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2S6 Historic Value of Local Natnes.
to receive the wayfarer, he would usually be compelled
to content himself with the shelter of bare walls. The
ruins of deserted Roman villas were no doubt often used
by travellers who carried their own bedding and pro-
visions, as is done by the frequenters of the khans and
dak houses of the East. Such places seem commonly
to have borne the name of COLD HARBOUR.^ In the
neighbourhood of ancient lines of road we find no less
than seventy places bearing this name,* and about a
dozen more bearing the analogous name of CALDICOT,
or " cold cot." ^
The only great works constructed by the Anglo-
Saxons were the vast earthen ramparts which served as
the boundaries between hostile kingdoms. For miles
and miles the dyke and ditch* of the wansdyke — ^the
ancient boundary of Wessex — still stretches across the
bleak downs of Somerset and Wilts. Beginning near
Portishead) on the Bristol Channel, its runs by Malmes-
bury and Cirencester, to Bampton in Oxfordshire ; it
then crosses the Thames, and re-appears at a place
called KINSEY. This name is a corruption of Kings
1 Compare the German Herberg^ shelter, and the French auherge. Sec
Notes and Queries, second series, vol. vi. pp. 143, 317.
* There are three on Akeman Street, four on Ermin Street, two on
Icknield Street, two on Watling Street, two on the Portways, and one on
the Fossway. Hartshome, Salopia Antiqua, pp. 253 — 258,
* Ilartshorhe, Salopia Antiqua, p. 249.
* The Anglo-Saxon dU is derived from the root which supplies us with
the verb to dig, and is used to mean both the mound and the excavation.
In modem English we call one the dyke and the other the ditch. Probably
the masculine and feminine of the Anglo-Saxon dU supplied the original
germ of the distinctive use, Kemble, Cod. Dip, vol iii. p. xxiu ; Leo,
Anglo-Saxon Nanus , p. 78. The common village name of ditton (dyke<
ton) may sometimes guide us as to the position of these dykes. Fen Ditton
and Wood Ditton in Cambridgeshire, stand respectively on the Fleam
Dyke and the Devil's Dyke.
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Saxon Dykes — Roman Walls. 257
Way, and shows that the dyke must have been used as
a road as well as for purposes of defence.^ OFFALS DYKE,
which stretched from Chester to the Wye, guarded the
frontiers of Mercia against the Welsh.* GRIM's DYKE
near Salisbury, OLD DITCH near Amesbury, and BOKERLY
DITCH, mark the position of the Welsh and Saxon
frontier at an earlier period.^ The ditch called the
PICTS' WORK, reaching from Galashiels to Peel Fell,
$eems to have been at one time the northern boundary
of the kingdom of Northumbria. A vast work, variously
called the RECKEN DYKE, the DEVIL'S DYKE, ST.
EDMUND'S DYKE, and CNUT's DYKE, served as the
defence of the kingdom of East Anglia against Mercia ;
unless, indeed, we suppose, as is not improbable, that it
was constructed at a time when the Mercian kingdom
was still British, and the East-Anglian settlement, was
the sole possession of the Teutons in the island.*
But these Saxon defences were at the best mere
earthworks, and are not to be compared, in a con-
structive point of view, with the two Roman walls which
stretched across the island from sea to sea. The Wall
of Hadrian, or of Severus, as it is called, ran from New-
castle to Carlisle, and is still in wonderful preservation.
But even if the massive masonry and huge earthen
rampart of this wall had perished, it would be easy to
trace its direction by means of the continuous series of
1 Leo, Anglo-Saxon Names, p. xiv.
• Lappenberg, Anglo-Saxon Kings, vol. i p. 231 ; Hartshome, Salopia.
Antiqua, pp. 181 — 193.
» Guest, in Proceedings of Archeeol. Instil, for 1849, p. 28.
* Lappenberg, Anglo-Saxon Kings, vol. i. p. 242, The Mercian king-
dom was founded 140 years after that of Kent, and the East-Anglian
settlement was, no doubt, much earlier than that in Kent Thrupp, Anglo-
Saxon Home^ p. 7.
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258 Historic Value of Local Nantes.
memorial names which are furnished by the villages and
farm-houses along its course. It b^an at WALLSEND,
now famous as the place where the best Newcastle coals
are shipped. We then c5me in succession to places
called Benwrf/, WWbottle, Heddon-on-the- Wall, Welton,
Wallhouses, Wall, Walwick Chesters, Wallshmls, Wall-
town, Thirlwa//, 'Rirdoswald, WallhovLts, Walton, Old-
wall, WalDanoW, Wallmill, and Wallhy, with Wallend,
Wallfoot, and W^<i//head at the western end. The wall
was, moreover, protected by fortified posts at regular
intervals. The sites of these fortresses go by the
names of BLAKE (Black) CHESTERS, RUTCHESTER, HAL-
TON CHESTERS, CARROWBURGH, CHESTERHOLM, GREAT
CHESTERS, BURGH, and DRUMBURGH.^
The northern wall, or Wall of Antoninus, extended
from the Forth to the Clyde, and goes by the name
of grime's dyke.* DUMBARTON, DUMBUCK Hilt, and
DUNGLAS were probably fortified stations along its course.
Fortified camps, whether of British, Roman, Saxon,
or Danish construction, are very commonly marked by
the suffix iuty. To enumerate any considerable portion
of these names would far exceed our limits ; but merely
to show how this suffix may guide the antiquarian in his
researches, it may suffice to exhibit the results obtained
from a single county. In Wiltshire alone there are, or
were in Camden's time, military earthworks in existence
at places called Chisbury, Boadbury, Abury, Yanesbuiy,
Ambresbuiy, Selbury, Sidbury, Badbury, Wanborough,
Burywood,Barbury,01dbury, Rybury, Westbury,Battles-
1 Brace, 7%€ Rofnan Wall^ passim.
* There is also a Grimesditch in Cheshire, and there are four other
earthworks bearing the same name^ slightly altered. Chalmers, Caledonia^
vol. i. p. 1 19.
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Ancient Camps. 259
bury, Avesbury, Heytesbury, Scratchbury, Waldsbury,
Bilbury, Winklebury, Chiselbury, Clerebury, Whichbury,
Frippsbury, and Ogbury or Okebury. At Malmesbury,
Salisbury, Heytesbury, Ramesbury, Titsbury, and* Marl-
borough, the sites of British or Saxon earthworks seem
to have been used for the erection of Norman castles.
A competent etymological investigation of the first
syllable in these names might probably yield results not
destitute of value.
The Roman stations throughout the island may very
frequently be recognised by the fact that their modern
names contain a modification of the Latin word castra}
These modifications are very curious, as exhibiting the
dialectic tendencies in different portions of the island.^
Throughout the kingdoms of Essex, Sussex, Wessex, and
other purely Saxon districts, the form Chester is universal.
Here we have the names of Colchester, Godmanchester,
Grantchester, Chesterford, Irchester, Rochester, Win-
chester, Ilchester, Chichester, Silchester, Porchester, and
two Dorchesters. But as we pass from the Saxon to the
Anglian kingdoms, we find Chester replaced by caster.
The distinctive usage of these two forms is very notice-
able, and is of great ethnological value. In one place
the line of demarcation is so sharply defined that it can
be traced within two hundred yards. Northamptonshire,
1 One syllable of names containing ckester, caster, or caer, is almost
alwa3rs Celtic, and seems to have been a Latinization of the enchorial
name. In ^m Chester the first syllable is the Latin venta, a word which
was constructed from the Celtic gwent, a plain. ^i;nchester contains a
portion of the Latinized name Binovimn. In Z^^rchester and jSjreter we
have the Celtic words dtur and uisge, water ; in Manchester we have man^
a district See pp. 231, 20G^ 203, 130, supra.
* See Robertson, Earfy Kings, vol. ii. p. 240 ; Latham, Opuscula, p.
153 ; Wright, Wanderings, p. 208 ; Hartshome, Saiopia Antiqua, pp.
I58» 199.
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26o Historic Value of Local Names.
which is decisively Danish, is divided by the Nen from
Huntingdonshire, which is purely Saxon. On the Saxon
side of the river we find the village of CHESTERTON,
confronted on the other side by the town of CASTOR, the
two names recording, in two different dialects, the fact
that the bridge was guarded by the Roman station of
Durobrivae.i Throughout the Anglian and Danish dis-
tricts we find this form caster, as in Tadcaster, Brancaster,
Ancaster, Doncaster, Lancaster, Casterton, Alcaster,
Caster, and Caistor. As we pass from East Anglia
to Mercia, which, though mainly Anglian, was subject
to a certain amount of Saxon influence, we find cester^
which is intermediate in form between the Anglian
caster and the Saxon cftester. The e is retained, but the
h is omitted ; and there is a strong tendency to further
elision, as in the case of Leicester, pronounced Le ster ;
Bicester, pronounced Bi'ster ; Worcester, pronounced
Wor*ster; Gloucester, pronounced Glos'ter, and Ciren-
cester, pronounced S*isester or Si's'ter. The same ten-
dency is seen in the cases of Alcester, Mancester, and
Towcester. It is still more noteworthy that beyond the
Tees, where the Danish and Mercian influence ceases,
and where almost all the local names resume the pure
Saxon type,2 we find that the southern form cluster re-
appears ; and we have the names Lanchester, Binchester,
Chester-le-Street, Ebchester, Ribchester, Rowchester,
Fichester, Chesterknows, Chesterlee, Chesterholm, Rut-
chester, and a few others on the Wall.
1 See a paper by Latham On the Traces of a Bilingual Town in England^
read before the British Association in 1853; Latham, Opitscula^ p. 151;
English Language^ vol. i. p. 434 ; Ansted and Latham, Channel Is. p. 335 ;
Smith, Dictionary of Geogr. s. v. Durobrivae ; Gough's Camden, voL ii, p.
a86. Durobrivae means water-bridge. See p. 255, supra,
■ See p. 169, supra.
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Cluster y Caster^ and Caer, 56 1
Towards the Welsh frontier the c or ch becomes an x,
and the tendency to elision is very strong. We have
Uttoxeter, pronounced Ux*ter; Wroxeter, and Exeter,
which in Camden's time was written Excesten
These names on the Welsh frontier exhibit a gradual
approximation to the form which we find in the parts
where the Celtic speech survived. Here the / also dis-
appears, and we find the prefix caer in the names of
Caerleon, Caergai, Caergwyle, Caersws, Caerwent, Caer-
philly, Caerwis, and the still more abbreviated forms of
Carstairs, Carluke, and Carriden in Scotland, Carhayes
in Cornwall, Carmarthen, Cardigan, Cardiff, and Car-
narvon in Wales, Carhallock, Carlisle, and Carvoran^ in
England, Carlow and Cardross in Ireland. With these
forms we may compare Caerphili and Caerven in Brit-
tany, Cherbourg in the Celtic peninsula of Cornuaille,
and Carsoli, Carosio, Carmiano, Carovigno, and Cortona,
in the Celtic part of Italy.*
^ Great Chesters, on the Wall, is an exact reproduction of the Celtic name
Carvoran, from which it is only three miles distant. As in the case of
Chesterton and Castor, we have here an indication of the close geographical
proximity in which different races must have lived. See Wright, Essays^
vol. i. p. 103.
* Chester and caster are, undoubtedly, from the Latin casira. Compare
the Anglo-Saxon word ceaster, Kemble, Codex Diplom, vol. iii p. xx.
But there is considerable doubt whether caer is a modification of castra, or
an independent Celtic root. We have the British and Cornish caeff the
Armorican ker^ and the Irish cathair and raVV, a fortress, and the Welsh
cae^ an inclosure, and cor^ a close. See Owen's JVelsh Dictionary;
Diefenbach, Celiica, i. p. 107 ; Davies in Philolog, Trans, for 1857, p. 43;
Williams, Essays, pp. 79, 80 ; Wright, Essays, vol. i. p. 103 ; Mone, Celt,
Forsch. p. aoo; De Belloguet, Etknog, vol. i. p. 2io; Guest in Philolog,
Proceai,yo\. v. p. 187 ; Canibro-Britcn, vol. ii. p. 409. Compare the Hebrew
and Phoenician word Kartha^ which is seen in the names of A'/rjath,
Ker\oihj Kir, and Cnzrthage, and is identical in meaning with the Celtic
caer, \Vilton, Negeb, p. 103. If there is no affiliation, this is a very
remarkable coincidence of sound and meaning.
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262 Historic Value of Local Names.
The Latin word colonia is found in the names of LIN-
COLN and COLOGNE,^ and perhaps also in those of
COLCHESTER and the two rivers called the COLNE, one
of which rises near the site of the colonia of Verulamium,
and the other flows past Colchester. In the immediate
vicinity of Colchester a legion was stationed for the pro-
tection of the colony. The precise spot which was occu-
pied by the camp of this legion is indicated by the
remains of extensive Roman earthworks at LEXDON, a
name which is a corruption of Legionis Dunum? The
Second Legion — Legio Augusta — ^was stationed on the
river Usk, or Isca, at a place called, in the Roman time,
Isca Legionis. The process by ^ which the modem name
of CAERLEON has been evolved, is indicated in the work
which bears the name of Nennius : " bellum gestum est in
urbe Leogis, quae Brittanice Cair Lion dicitur." * Another
legion we And at LEICESTER (Legionis castra).
The station of the seventh legion was in Spain, at
LEON (Legio), that of the Claudian legion at KLOTEN in
Switzerland.* Megiddo in Palestine, where another
legion was quartered, now goes by the name of LEDjt^N,
or LEJJUN.* (Legio, or Castra L^ionis.)
The numerous " peels " along the border are an evi-
dence of the insecurity arising from border warfare in
times when every man's house was, in a literal sense, his
castle also.*
^ See Mahn, Ueher die Namen Berlin undKbln^ p. 2. Compare the
of kul6nia in Palestine. Robinson, Later Researches^ p. 158.
* Baxter, Glossanum, p. 64 ; Cough's Camden, vol. ii. p. 138.
« Nennius, a 56.
4 Meyer, Ortsnamm, p. 70.
* Robinson, Biblical Researches^ voL iii. pp. 177 — 180 ; Later Researcher^
p. 118 ; Stanley, JcTvish Churth^ p. 322.
* Peel is from the Celtic /ft^/, a castle. Dairies in Philolog. Proc. voL vi.
p. 131.
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. Stations of Roman Legions. 263
The hill where the border clan of the Maxwells used
to assemble previous to their dreaded forays bears the
appropriate name of the wardlaw (guard hill). A
reference to this trysting place is contained in the war-
cry of the clan, " I bid you bide Wardlaw."
A similar state of society is indicated by the name of
CASTILE, as well as by the castle which appears on the
armorial bearings of that kingdom. The name and the
device date from the times of continuous border warfare,
when the central portion of the peninsula was, mile by
mile, being wrested from the Moors, and secured by an
ever advancing line of frontier castles.^
At a later period, when the unbelievers had been finally
expelled from Northern and Central Spain, the debate-
able ground was the province which now goes by the
name of MURCIA. This word means the district of the
^ march " or margiTL^ the dtfnarc2L\xon between two alien
races. To make a tPtark is to draw a boundary. Letters
of marque are letters which contain a licence to harass the
enemy beyond the frontier. A Margrave, Mark-graf,
Earl of March, or Marquess was the warden of the
Marches, who held his fief by the tenure of defending
the frontier against all aggression, and this important
office gave him rank next to the Duke or Dux, the
leader of the forces of the shire. The root is found in
all the Indo-Germanic languages, and is probably to be
referred to the Sanskrit marydy a boundary, which is a
derivative of the verb smriy to remember. We may,
compare the Latin margo^ and the Persian marg^ a fron-
tier. The uncleared forest served as the boundary of the
^ The same fiict is expressed bj the Arabic name for CwiXJUi^^Ardhu-i-
kiia^ the land of castles. Gayangoe, Dynasties^ vol l p. 316 ; Pzescottf
Ferdinand and Isabella^ voL i. p. 28.
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i64 Historic Value of Local Nantes,
gau of the Teutonic settlers. Hence the Scandinavian
morky a forest, and the English word murky, which ori-
ginally denoted the gloom of the primaeval forest. The
chase took place in the forest which bounded the in-
habited district, hence the Sanskrit mrga, chase, hunting.
A huntsman being nearly synonymous w'th a horseman,
we have the Celtic marc} a horse, which hcis found its
way into the English verb, to march, and the French
word markliah a groom or farrier. The Earl Marshal
was originally the " grand farrier," or " master of the
horse" — ^a great officer of state, like the grand fal--
coner.^
The Scotch and the Welsh marches, for many cen-
turies, occupy- an important place in English history as
the border-lands between England, and her ancient
enemies in Scotland and Wales. The Anglo-Saxon
kingdom of MERCIA was the frontier province between
the East Angles and the Welsh. On the frontier line
we find MARBROOK and MARCHOMLEY in Shropshire,
MARBURY in Cheshire, and MARKLEY in Herefordshire.^
On the frontier between the Celts of Cornwall and the
^ Gaelic and Erse, marc; Welsh, Comish, and Brezonec mar^ch, Cofin-
pare the Anglo-Saxon mmr, a horse, whei^ce the English mare, Acoording
to Ammianos Marcellinus, the war-cry of the Sarmatians was — Marha,
Marha, ''to horse, to hoise." Diefenbach, Orig. Europ, p. 90.
' On the word mark see Diefenbach, Cdtka, i. p. 67 ; Origines Europe
p. 429 ; VergUichendes Worterbtichy voL ii. pp. 50 — ^53 ; Leo, VorUsungat,
voL i. p. 144; Zeuss, Die Deutscken, p. 114; Diez, Etymolog. IVorterincA,
pp. 217, 682 ; Pictet, Orig, Jndo-Europ, part ii. p. 408 ; Miiller, Marktn
des Vaterlandes^ pp. 216, 217 ; Verstegan, Restitution^ pp, 171, 172 ; Kem-
ble. Codex Diplom, vol. iii. p. xi. ; Blackstone, Commentaries^ book L
c. 7, § 4 ; Gamett, Essays^ p. 16 ; Pott, Etymologische Forschungen, voL ii
p. 1 16.
* There are fifteen English parishes called Marston, i,e. Markstone or
boundary stone, one of which gives a name to the well-known battlefield of
Marston Moor.
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The Mark. 265
Saxons of Devon, stands the village of MARHAM. We
have seen that the valleys of the Frome and Avon re-
mained Celtic long after the surrounding country had
been occupied by the Saxons. Some three or four
miles to the south-west of Bath stands the village of
MERKBURY, the " fortress of the march " or boundary of
the Welsh district. The names of the adjoining villages
of ENGLISHCOMBE ^ and ENGLISH BATCH seem to mark
outlying portions of the English territory.^ The town
of MARCH in Cambridgeshire is close to the sharply
defined frontier line of the Scandinavian kingdom,^ and
on the frontier of the little outlying Danish colony in
Essex we find a place called COMARQUES.
Throughout Europe we find this word march or mark
entering into the names of outlying or frontier provinces.
The MARCOMANNI of Tacitus were the marchmen of the
Sclavonic frontier of Germany.* The names of the
provinces of ALTMARK, MITTELMARK, UKERMARK,^ and
NEUMARK, which collectively constitute the MARK of
Brandenburg, show the successive encroachments of the
Germans on the Poles ; Altmark, or the " Old Mark,"
being the farthest to the west, while Neumark, the "New
Mark," is the farthest to the east DENMARK was the
1 The name of Englishcombe is found in Domesday.
■ Guest, in Archceolog, Journal^ vol. xvi pp. 11 1, 112.
• See p. 167, supra,
* Latham, Germania, prolegomena, pp. liii. — Ivi. ; Latham in PhUolog.
JProceedings, vol. iv. p. 190. Grimm thinks that the Marcomanni were the
men of the forest, rather than the men of the frontier. Gesck. d. DeuL
Spr, p. 503.
B The name of the Ukermark contains two synonymous elements —
Ukraine being a Sclavonic word, meaning a frontier. The Ukraine
on the Dnieper was the southern frontier of the ancient kingdom of
Poland. See Latham, Nationalitia of Europe^ vol. i. pp. 5 and 376 ; vol
iL p. 358.
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266 Historic Value of Local Names,
Danish frontier, finmark, and four provinces called
LAPPMARK, show the five successive stages by which
the Scandinavian invaders encroached upon the territory
of the Fins and Lapps. MORAVIA takes its name from
the March, or Mor-ava, a bordering river.^ steyer-
MARK, or Styria, as we Anglicize the word, formed the
south-eastern frontier between the Germans, and the
Hungarians and Croats. Here we find the border town
of MARCHBURG. The boundary of the Saxon colony
in Westphalia is shown by the district called march,
and there is a place called MARBACH on the frontier
of the Swabian settlement in Wurtemberg. On the
frontiers of the Saxon colony in Picardy we find the
Rivers MARBECQ and MORBECQUE, a dike called the
MARDICK, and the village of MARCK. In the Vo^esi, on
the frontier of the Alemannic population of Alsace, we
find the town of LA MARCHE. One of the old provinces
of France, called MARCHE, was the frontier between the
Franks and the Euskarians of Aquitaine. The March
of Ancona, and the other Roman Marches which have
been recently annexed to the kingdom of Italy, together
with the Marquisate of Tuscany, formed the southern
boundaries of the Carlovingian empire. The Marquisate
of Flanders * was erected at a later period as a barrier
against the Danes. In fact, all the original Marquisates,
those of Milan, Verona, Carniola, Istria, Moravia, Cambe,
Provence, Susa, Montserrat, and many others, will be
found to have been marks or frontier territories.
Two names survive which mark boundaries of the
1 Grimm, Gach, d, Deut, Spr, p. 505. The suf&x ava is the Old High
Gennan aha, a river.
> On the frontier of the Marquisate of Flanders are two towns called
MARCHIENNES.
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Names of Frontiers. 267
Roman empire. The name of the Fiume Delia fine,
near Leghorn, is a corruption of the ancient name, Ad
Fines. This river, about the year 250 B.C, formed the
extreme northern limit of the Latin confederacy.^ The
Canton Valais in Switzerland is curiously divided between
a German and a French-speaking population. The
Romans left the upper end of the valley to the bar-
barous mountaineers, and their descendants now speak
German. The lower part, which was included within
the Roman rule, is now French in language. The line
of linguistic demarcation is sharply drawn in the neigh-
bourhood of Leuk. Here we find a village which is
called PFYN, a name which marks the fineSy the confines
both of the Roman rule, and of the language of the
conquerors.
A somewhat similar name is found in England, de-
vizes is a barbarous Anglicization of the Low Latin
Divisa^ which denoted the point where the road from
London to Bath passed into the Celtic district.^ Even
so late as the time of Clarendon, the name had hardly
become a proper name, being called The Devizes, in the
same way that Bath was called The Bath in the time of
Addison.'
The former state of our island, divided between hostile
peoples — Saxon, Celt, and Dane — ^is indicated not only
by such names as Mercia and March, but by those of
several of our English counties.* Cumberland is the
land of the Cymry. CORNWALL, or Corn-wales, is the
kingdom of the Welsh of the Horn. DEVON is the land
1 Mommsen, Hist. Rome, toL i. p. 441.
« Gttest, in Archaolog, youmaly vol. iivi. p. 1 16.
* See Saturday Review, Aug. 22, 1863.
« See Grimm, Gesch. d. Deut. Spr, p. 658.
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268 Historic Value of Local Names,
of the Damnonii, a Celtic tribe; KENT that of the
Cantii ; WORCESTERSHIRE that of the Huicii. SUSSEX,
ESSEX, WESSEX, and MIDDLESEX, were the kingdoms of
the southern, eastern, western, and central Saxons. In
Robert of Gloucester, the name of SURREY appears in
the form of Sothe-reye, or the south realm.^ NORFOLK
and SUFFOLK were the northern and southern divisions
of the East- Anglian folk. The position on the map of
what we call NORTHUMBERLAND — ^the land north of the
H umber — proves that it was by aggression from the
south that the Northumbrian kingdom, which once
stretched northward from the Humber, was reduced to
the restricted limits of the modern county. HEREFORD,
the " ford of the army," was an important strategic point
in the Marches of Wales, being one of the few places
where an Anglo-Saxon army could cross the Severn to
harry the Welsh borders.
These county names may serve to remind us of the
discordant fragments that have at length been welded
into a national unity, while numerous village-names,
such as SAXBY, FLEMINGSBY, FRANKBY,^ FRISBY,* SCOT-
THORPE, NORMANDBY, FINSTHWAITE,* and DANBY, prove
from how wide an area those bands of adventurers were
collected who made their swords the title-deeds to por-
tions of our English soil.
^ On the fonns in which this name appears, see Guest, On GfntiUNameSy
in Philolog. Proceedings^ vol. i. p. ill.
* We have Frankby in Cheshire, four Franktons in Salop, and one in
Warwick, Frankley in Worcester, and Frankham in Dorset
> We find a Friesthorpe in Lincolnshire, two Frisbys in Leicestershire,
Frieston in Lincolnshire and Sussex, and two in Suffolk, Frystone in York-
shire, Friesden in Bucks, and Frisdon in Wilts.
4 We have Finsthwaite in Lancashire, Fineston in Lincolnshire, Finsham
in Norfolk, Finstock in Oxon,
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Ethnic Shire-names of England. 269
At the close of the period of Roman occupation, the
Barbarian auxiliaries must have formed a not incon-
siderable element in the population of Britain. From
the *' Notitia Imperii," and from inscriptions, we learn
that there were legions recruited from Moors, Indians,^
Cilicians, Dacians, Thracians,* Dalmatians,* Sarmatians,
Tungrians, Batavians, and from sundry tribes of Gaul,
Spain, and Germany, which were located in various parts
of Britain.* Local names preserve a few traces of these
military colonies. The names of QUAT and QUATFORD,*
near Bridgenorth, in Salop, have been thought to bear
witness to a settlement of Quadi ; and TONG,® in York-
shire, of the Tungrians. The ancient name of HUNNUM
on the Wall, and the modern one of HUNSTANTON, in
Norfolk, may possibly be due to the Huns. There is
only one name of this class, however, which can be re-
ferred to with any confidence. We are informed by
Zosimus that large bodies of Vandal auxiliaries were
settled in Britain by the Emperor Probus, and Gervase
of Tilbury informs us that Vandalsburg in Cambridge-
shire was a fortification raised by them. Vandalsburg
is undoubtedly to be identified with the huge earthwork
called WANDLESBURY, which occupies the summit of
the Gogmagog Hills. WENDLEBURY, near Bicester, in
Oxfordshire ; WINDLESHAM, near Woking, in Surrey ;
1 At Cirencester.
* In Yorkshire, Shropshire, at Cirencester, and on the Wall.
* In Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and on the Wall.
-* See Wright, "On the Ethnology of South Britain at the extinction of
the Roman Government," Essays^ vol. i. pp. 70, 71 ; Poste, Britannic
Researches^ pp. 99, 100; Latham, EthnoL Brit Is, pp. 99 — loi ; Edinb,
Review, vol xciv. p. 187; Horsley, Brit, Rom, pp. 88—97, ^^^> B"ice,
Roman Wall, p. 60,
• More probably from the Celtic coed, a wood.
• More probably Norse.
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270. Historic Value of Local Names.
WINDLEDEN and WENDEL Hill, in Yorkshire; and
WINDLE, in Lancashire, may, some of them, be Vandal
settlements.^
Henry of Huntingdon informs us that the Picts, during
one of their incursions, advanced as far as Stamford,
where they suffered a bloody repulse. The remnant of
this invading host may with some probability be traced
at PITCHLEY in Northamptonshire, a place which, in
Domesday, is called Picts-lei and Pihtes-lea, the laga or
settlement of the Picts or Pehtas.*
Beyond the confines of England we find numerous
names which denote intrusive colonization, or the settle-
ment of the remains of defeated armies. One of the
most curious of these is SCYTHOPOLIS, a strong natural
rock-fortress in Eastern Palestine, the name of which is
probably a record of the Scythian invasion in the reign
of Josiah, which is recorded by Herodotus.*
The names of SERVIANIKA and CRAVATTA, show that
Servians and Croats penetrated into the Morea. In
Westphalia we find the adjacent villages of FRANKEN-
FELD and SASSENBERG,* and in Hesse Cassel franken-
1 See Kennett, Parochial AntiquiiieSy vol. i. p. l8 ; Palgrave, Engiisk
Comtnotvwealthy vol. i. p. 355 ; Gotigh*s Camden, vol. I p. cxxxix. and vd.
\\. p. 213.
' See Poste, Brii. Researches^ p. 47. The pronunciation of this name^
Peitphley, strongly favours the etymology suggested in the text. Compare
also the phrases Sexena-laga, the seat or district of the Saxons, and XHsut-
lagh, that of the Danes.
> Herodotus, i. c 105 ; Zephaniah iL 5, 6 ; see Stanley, Jewish Cimrth,
p. 338 ; Sinai and Pal, p. 340 ; Bergmann, Les Gites^ p. 26 ; Robinaoo,
Biblical Raearches^ vol. iil p. 175 ; Later Researches, p. 330 ; Brace, Ra£a
of the Old IVorld, pp. 60, 6k. It is possible that there may be truth in the
tradition which asserts that the Frank Mountain, in the same neighbour-
hood, was a refuge of the Crusaders. See Stanley, Sinai and Pnl, p. 163 ;
Robinson, Bibl, Researches, voL ii. p. 171.
* Massmann, in Dorow's Denkmdler, vol. i. p. 199.
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Intrusive Colonisation^ 271
BERG and SASSENBERG stand face to face.^ In the
Rhineland, FRANKFURT and FRANKENTHAL* are settle-
ments of the Franks, just as katzellenbogen ' and
SACHSENHAUSEN are of the Saxons, flamandville
and SASSETOT in Normandy, and sueveghem in
Flanders, are among the nujnerous names of the kind
which might easily be collected.* The WESTMANN ISLES,
opposite Hjorleifs Head on the coast of Iceland were
the refuge of some westmen, or Irish slaves, who slew
their master, Hjorleif, and then fled for their lives.* We
must, I fear, give up the curious tradition which derives
the name of Canton schwytz from a Swedish colony
which settled there at some remote period.*
I Vilmar, Orttnam^n, p. 243.
> The ancient forms of these two names show that they are derived from
the nationality of the inhabitants, and not, as is usually supposed, from the
possession of certain fmnchises. Zeuss, Herkunfi dar Baiem^ p. $&
' See, however, Dixon, Surnames^ p. 41.
4 Many instances have been collected by Zeuss and Forstemann. See
DU DaUschen^ pp. 608, 635, &c. ; Die Deuttchen Ortsnamen, p. 170.
' Baring-Gould, Iceland^ p. 2.
' The Haslithalers affirm that they are Swedes. Hassle is a common
local name in Sweden. See Geijer, De Colonia Svecorum in Hdvetiam
dedmctOj quoted extensively by Strinnholm, Wikingmge^ pp. 190—199.
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272 The Street Names of London.
CHAPTER XL
THE STREET NAMES OF LONDON.
71ie walls of Old London — Gradual extension of the town — Absorption of
surrounding villages — The Brooks ; the Holbomf the Tyhum, and the
IVestdourne — WellSy conduits, ferries — Monastic establishments of London
— Localities of certain trades — Sports and pastimes — Sites of residences of
historic families preserved in the names of streets — The Palaces of the
Strand— Elizabethan London — Streets dating from the Restoration,
The history of many cities has been deciphered from
inscriptions, and so the history of Old London may,
much of it, be deciphered from the inscriptions which
we find written up at the comers of its streets. These
familiar names, which catch the eye as we pace the pave-
ment, perpetually remind us of the London of bygone
centuries, and recall the stages by which the long un-
lovely avenues of street have replaced the elms and
hedgerows, and have spread over miles of pleasant fields,
till scores of outlying villages have been absorbed into
a " boundless contiguity " of brick and mortar.
By the aid of the street names of London let us then
endeavour to reconstruct the history of London, and, in
the first place, let us take these names as our guide-book
in making the circuit of the old City Walls. The ancient
wall started from the Norman fortress on TOWER HILL,
and ran to ALDGATE — ^the " Old Gate." Between ald-
GATE and BISHOPSGATE the wall was protected by an
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The Walls of London. 273
open ditch, two hundred feet broad,^ whose name,
HOUNDSDITCH, sufficiently indicates the unsavoury na-
ture of its contents. CAMOMILE STREET and WORM-
WOOD STREET remind us of the desolate strip of waste
ground which lay immediately within the wall, and of
the hardy herbs which covered it, or strove to force their
rootlets between the stones of the grey rampart In
continuation of the street called Houndsditch, we find a
street called LONDON WALL. Here no ditch seems to
have been needed, for the names of FINSBURY, MOOR-
FIELDS, MOOR LANE, and MOORGATE STREET, hand
down the memory of the great Fen or Moor — ^an "arrant
fen," as Pennant quaintly calls it — ^which protected the
northern side of London.
On this moor, just outside the wall, was the ARTILLERY
GROUND,^ where the bowmen were wont to assemble to
display their skill.
Where the fen terminated the wall needed more pro-
tection, and here accordingly we find the site of the
BARBICAN,* one of the gateway towers, which seems
* Pennant, London, p. 234.
« Hard by we find artillery street, where the Bowyers and Fletchers
fabricated longbows and cloth yard shafts. The word artillery, in old
EngUsh, denotes bows and arrows, and it retained this meaning till the
seventeenth century, for we find the word used in this sense in i Sam. xx.
where our version reads, ** And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad,
and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city."
* The whole tribe of modem Londonologists have followed Stow in
deriving the word barbican from the Saxon bur^ kenning, or "town
-watching'* tower. A barbican was, strictly, a projecting turret over a
gateway. The true etymology of the word is undoubtedly that given by
Camden (vol. il p. 85), from the Persian bdla khaneh, an upper chamber,
whence also we derive the word balcony. We find this form in the case of
BALCON LANE, which was parallel to, and just outside, the town wall of
Colchester. See Wedgwood, Eng. Etym, vol. i. p. 97 ; and Wedgwood in
Phil, Proc. vol. iii. p. 156.
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274 The Street Names ofLofidon.
to have guarded ALDERSGATE, the chief entrance from
the north. Considerable remains of the wall are still
visible in CASTLE STREET, as well as in the churchyard
of St. Giles', CRIPPLEGATE.^ Passing by NEWGATE we
come to the OLD BAILEY, a name which is derived from
the ballium or vallum^ an open space between the ad-
vanced gate of the city and the line of the outer wall.*^
The wall now turned southward, and ran along the
crest of LUDGATE HILL, its western face being protected
by the FLEET, a small stream which flowed through the
ditch of the city wall, which was here called the FLEET
DITCH. The river Fleet also gave its name to the street
which crossed it at right angles, and entered the city by
Fleetgate, Floodgate, or LUDGATE.**
At the angle formed by the wall and the Thames
stood a Norman fortress erected at the same time with
the Tower of London.* A wharf which occupies the
1 The wall gives its name lo the parish of Allhallows-in-the-Wall, as well
as to that of Cripplegate.
s In a similar position with respect to the city wall, we find the Old Bayle
at York, the church of St Peter in the Bailey at Oxford, and Bailey Hill at
Sheffield and Radnor. A bailiff vrvci originally the Bayle-reeve, or officer in
charge of the Ballium ; just as the sheriff is the shire-reeve. A bail is
etymologically a palisade. Thus the bails at cricket were originally the
stumps, the present restricted meaning of the word being of later origin.
See Knapp, English Roots^ p. 79—81 ; Timbs, Curiosities of London^ p. 556 ;
Wedgwood, DicL of Ettg. Eiym, voL L p. 96 ; Ilartshome, Sahpia Anti^Ma,
p. 241 : Diez, Efym» Wbrterbuch^ p. 37 ; Whitaker, Hist, of Manchester^
vol. ii. p. 244.
> The words flood, fleet, and float, come from the Anglo-Saxon veib
fleotan, to float or swim. A fleet is either that which is afloat, or a place
where vessels can float — ^that is, a channel, or where water fleets or runs.
Hence the names kbbfleet, northfxekt, southflikt, purflset,
and PORTFLEET. The word vley^ which the boers of the Cape use for the
smaller rivers, is the same word fleet (Dutch, vliet,) in a somewhat dis-
guised form. Kemble, Cod, Dip. vol. iii. p. xxv. See p. 187, supra,
4 See Thierry, Norman Conquest, p. 76; Cunningham, Handbook for
London, p. 65.
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Extent of Old L ondon, 275
site, as well as one of the city wards, still retain the
name of castle BAYNARD, although every vestige of
the fortress has long disappeared. DOWGATE^ and
BILLINGSGATE were two of the passages through that
part of the wall which protected the city from assailants
coming from the riverside.*
The small space within the walls of Old London was
almost exactly of the same shape and the same area as
Hyde Park. In fact, as the last syllable of its name
indicates, LONDON was originally a dun or Celtic hill-
fortress, formed by Tower Hill, Cornhill, and Ludgate
Hill, and effectually protected by the Thames on the
south, the Fleet on the west, the great fen of Moorfields
and Finsbury on the north, and by the Houndsditch and
the Tower on the east.^
For a long period London was confined within the limit
of its walls. In the reign of Edward I. CHARING was
a country village lying midway between the two cities
of London and Westminster, and ST. martin's-IN-THE-
FIELDS long* continued to be the village church. Along
the strand of the river hardly a house had been built
in the time of Edward III., and no continuous street
existed till the reign of Elizabeth. Even then, to the
north of this straggling line of houses, the open country
extended from LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS to the village
church of ST. GILES' IN THE FIELDS. James I. ordered
the justices to commit to prison any person presuming
1 Possibly the Dourgate or water-gate. Cough's Camden, vol. iL
p. 80.
» Pauli, Pictures of Old England f p. 416.
' The natural advantages of the site have been well brought out bjr
Dean Stanley in his admirable lecture on 77ie Study of Modem History ^
PP- 352—355-
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276 The Street Names of London.
to build in this open space.^ LONG ACRE, formerly a
field called " The Elms," or *' The Seven Acres," * was
not built upon till the reign of Charles I. And scarcely
a century ago a man with a telescope used to station
himself in LEICESTER FIELDS — now Leicester Square —
and offer to the passers-by, at the charge of one half-
penny, a peep at the heads of the Scotch rebels which
garnished the spikes on Temple Bar.*
If, two or three centuries ago, what now forms the
heart of London was unbuilt upon, it was at a still more
recent period that Kensington, Brompton, Paddington,
Dalston, Stoke Newington, and Islington, remained de-
tached country villages, though they are now districts
incorporated with the wilderness of streets. There was
a coach which took three hours to run, or rather to
flounder, from the village of Paddington to London ;
and Lord Hervey, in country retirement at Kensington,
laments that the impassable roads should cause his
entire isolation from his friends in London.
The names spitalfields, bethnal green, field
LANE, CLERKENWELL GREEN, PADDINGTON GREEN,
VINE STREET, MOORFIELDS, SMITHFIELD, East and West,
COLDBATH ^FIELDS, ST. GEORGE'S FIELDS, SPA FIELDS,
ROSEMARY LANE, COPENHAGEN FIELDS, and KINGS-
LAND, indicate the rural character of the districts that
separated the outlying villages from the neighbouring
city. In these fields the citizens could take pleasant
country walks with their wives, while their children
clambered over GOODMAN'S STYLE, in GOODMAN'S
^ Smith, Antiquarian Ramble^ vol. i. p. 302 ; Madcay, History of London^
p. 27a.
' Timbs, Curiosities of London, p. 473.
• Smith, Antiquarian Ramble, vol. i. p. 1 1 7.
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Gradual Extension of the Town, 277
FIELDS, or, on rare occasions, went nutting on Nutting
or NOTTING HILL. There were windmills in windmill
STREET, at the top of the Haymarket, and in WINDMILI>
STREET, Finsbury ; there was a water-mill in MILFORD
LANE, Strand ; while the hounds of the Lord Mayor's
pack were kenneled at DOG-HOUSE bar, in the City
Road.
In TOTHILL FIELDS there was a bear garden, and in
the fields by the side of the brook which has given its
name to Brook Street, an annual fair was held on the
site of Curzon Street and Hertford Street — a rural fdte
whose memory is preserved in the name of the fashion-
able region of mayfair.
The names of the present streets will enable us to
trace the courses of the brooks which ran through these
country fields. The little stream called the HOLBORN,
rising near Holborn Bars, gave its name to the street
down which it flowed,^ and after turning the mill at
TURNBULL or Turnmill Street, it joined the FLEET
river at Holborn Bridge. From this point to the Thames
the Fleet was navigable, at all events by barges, as is
attested by the names of seacoal lane and Newcastle
lane.
» The "Old Bourne," or bum, is the etymology of "The Holborn,"
which is universally given — thoughtlessly copied, according to the usual
custom, by one writer from another. That a village or town should be
called Oldham, Aldborough, or Newton is intelligible, but how a name
like Oldboume should have arisen is difficult to explain. The introduction
of the ^ is another difficulty in the way of this etymology. It seems far
more in accordance with etymological laws to refer the name to the Anglo-
Saxon hoU^ a hollow, or ravine ; the Holborn will therefore be "the Bum
in the hollow," like the Holbeck in Lincolnshire, and the Holbec in
Normandy. The Chartere in the Codex Diplomaticus supply apposite
instances of the usage of the Anglo-Saxon word hole. See Leo, Anglo-
Saxon Names, p. 80.
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278 T}u Street Names of London.
Finsbury and Moorfields were drained by the WAL-
BROOK, which passed through the wall in its course to
the Thames. Two or three centuries ago this stream
was vaulted over, and walbrook street was built
upon the ground thus gained. At BUDGE ROW — a
corruption of Bridge Row — there was a bridge over the
brook. The langbourne, another of the city streams,
has given its name to one of the London wards ; and
SHERBOURNE LANE, near London Bridge, marks the
course of the Sherbourne. Further to the west, the
positions of two small rivulets which crossed the Strand
are denoted by IVYBRIDGE LANE and STRAND-BRIDGE
LANE.
The TYBURN, a much larger stream, after passing by
the church of St Mary le bourne, or MARYLEBONE, and
crossing the great western road near Stratford Place,
passed across BROOK STREET, and down ENGINE STREET,
to the depression of Piccadilly. The hollow in the
Green Park is, in fact, the valley of the Tyburn, and
the ornamental water in front of Buckingham Palace
was the marsh in which it stagnated before its junction
with the Thames.
To the west of the Holborn and the Tyburn we find
the WESTBOURNE, with its affluent the KILBURN.^ Where
this stream crossed the great western road, it spread out
into a shallow BAY-WATER,^ where cattle might drink at
the wayside. On the formation of Hyde Park a dam
was constructed across the valley of the Westbourne,
so as to head up the water, thus forming the SERPENTINE
^ Either the Cold-burn, or, more probably, the Well-bum. See p. i86^
supra,
■ A different etymology of Bayswater is, however, proposed in Notes and
Qucties^ first series, vol. i. No. 1 1, p. 162.
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TIte Brooks^ Wells, and Conduits, 279
RIVER, which leaves the park at Albert Gate, and crosses
the Kensington Road at KNIGHTSBRIDGE.
It would appear that the water supply of Old London,
when not derived from the Thames, the Holborn, or the
Tyburn, was obtained from numerous wells — CLERKEN-
WELL or the priest's well, bridewell or St. Bridget's
well, HOLYWELL,^ SADLER'S WELLS, BAGNIGGE WELLS,
and others — and in later times from the conduits or foun-
tains which gave a name to lamb's CONDUIT STREET,
and CONDUIT street, Regent Street. The use of
the SHOREDITCH, the Walbrook, the Sherbourne, the
Langbourne, and the Fleet, was, we will hope, discon-
tinued at a comparatively early period.
Redriff, which is a corruption of Rotherhithe, St.
Mary SOMERSET, a corruption of Summer's Hithe,
STEPNEY,^ anciently Stebenhithe, QUEENHITHE, and
LAMBETH, or Loamhithe, mark some of the chief
** hithes" or landing-places on the banks of the Thames.*
Close to London Bridge we find the church of St,
Mary OVERY, or St. Mary of the Ferry.* This name, if
we may believe the old traditions, recalls the time when
the Thames was unbridged, and when the proceeds of
the ferry formed the valuable endowment of the con-
* I am not aware that any etymology of the name of \vych street has
been proposed. Like Wynch Street in Bristol, it may be probably derived
fiY)m the wynch of the public well of Holywell.
* The name was anciently written Stebenhethe, which would mean either
the ** timber wharf," or perhaps " Stephen's wharf." Cunningham, Hand-
book for London^ p. 78a
s The names of Eiith and Greenhithe, lower down the river, contain the
same root.
^ This etymology, as well as the myths of the miserly ferryman and his
fiiir daughter, are open to grave suspicion. St Maiy Overy is probably
St. Mary Ofer-ea, or St Mary by the water-side. The Anglo-Saxon ofer
is the saniie as the modem German ufer^ a shore.
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28o The Street Nanus of London.
ventual church, just as HORSEFERRY ROAD is a remi-
niscence of the ferry which Westminster Bridge has
superseded.
The Thames was formerly by no means confined to
its present bed, but both above and below the city spread
out into broad marshes, where the varying channels of
the river inclosed numerous islands.^ LAMBETH MARSH,
and perhaps marsham STREET, may remind us of the
former. Some of the islands are commemorated by such
names as CHELSEA, which is a corruption of cJiesel-^^
or shingle isle ; battersea, which is St Peter's-ey ; as
well as BERMONDSEY, PUTNEY, and the ISLE OF DOGS.*
The monastic establishments were chiefly situated in
the fields around the city, their sacred character render-
ing unnecessary the protection of the walls. Convent, or
CO VENT GARDEN,' was the garden of the monks of WEST-
MINSTER ABBEY. The name of the Chartreuse, or Car-
thusian convent, has been corrupted into the CHARTER-
HOUSE. At CANONBURY, Islington, was an affiliated
establishment of the canons of St Bartholomew's Priory,
now St Bartholomew's Hospital. SPITAL SQUARE occu-
pies the site of the churchyard belonging to the church
of the priory and hospital of St. Mary, which stood
beyond the walls in SPITAL fields. In AUSTIN friars,
Broad Street, stood the convent of the Augustines ; that of
^ See Chambers, Ancient Sta Margins, p. 14. Thomey Island, on wfaidi
Westminster Abbey was built, seems to have been completely surrounded
by the river. The ornamental water in St James's Park occupies a part
of the bed of the northern branch of the Thames. During tlie excavation
of St Katharine's Docks old ships were dug out, showing that here also the
Thames must have shifted its channel. Lyell, Antiquity o/Man, p. 129.
' Perhaps a corruption of the Isle of Digues, or dikes.
s So Orchard Street, Bristol, was the garden of a monastery, and Culver
Street was the columbarium. Lucas, Secularia^ p. 98*
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Monastic Establishments of London. 28 1
the Minoresses, or Nuns of St. Clare, was in the MINORIES,
just outside the eastern wall ; and in CRUTCHED FRIARS,
Tower Hill, was that of the Crutched Friars, distin-
guished by the cross upon their dress.^ ST. Katharine's
DOCKS occupy the site of the abbey of St. Catherine.
The Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem occupied what
is now the TEMPLE; the round church, built on the
model of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, being the
only part of the ancient building still remaining. At ST.
JOHN'S GATE, Clerkenwell, we find a vestige of the other
great military order, the Hospitallers, the Knights of the
Hospital of St John, of Jerusalem, Rhodes, and Malta.
To several of the convents belonged sanctuaries, or
precincts possessing the valuable privilege of freedom
from arrest. The BROAD SANCTUARY belonged to the
abbot and monks of Westminster. The monastic esta-
blishment of the SAVOY enjoyed similar privileges. The
Times is now printed within the precincts of the convent
of the BLACK FRIARS,* or Dominicans,' who together
with the WHITEFRIARS, or Carmelites, and the GREY
FRIARS*, or Franciscans, possessed the privileges of sanc-
1 A cruUh is the old English word for a cross. A cripple's crutch has a
cross piece of wood at the top. Crouchmass was the festival on the 14th
of September, in honour of the Holy Cross. To crouch is to bend the body
into the form of a cross. Crochet work is performed with a crooked needle.
A person who has a crotchet has a crook in the mind. A crotchet in music
is a crooked note. A shepherd's crook is crooked at the top.
t Gloster Court, Blackfriars, is a corruption of Cloister Court. See
WhewcU, in Philological Proceedings^ vol, v. p. 14a
s The Augustines, the Dominicans, the Franciscans, and the Carmelites,
were the four mendicant orders, whose sphere of labour lay among the
crowded population of great dties. The Benedictines and Cistercians had
their establishments, for the most part, in country districts, where they dis-
charged the duties of great feudal landowners. See Pauli, Pictures of Old
England, pp. S3— 64.
** The monastery of the Greyfriars is now Christ's Hospital. The cloisters
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282 The Street Names of London.
tuary, the abuse of which has conferred an unenviable
notoriety upon the districts to which these immunities
were attached.^
Special districts in the city, or in the suburbs, were
assigned to aliens, or appropriated by those who carried
on certain trades. TOOLEY- STREET, a corruption of St
Olaf s Street,^ and ST. CLEMENT DANES* mark respec-
tively the colony and the burying-place of the Danes
in the southern and western suburbs. The Jews were
admitted within the walls, and resided in the two districts
which still retain the names of JEWIN STREET and the
OLD JEWRY. The LOMBARD pawnbrokers and money
dealers established themselves in the street which bears
their name, between the two chief centres of trade, the posi-
tions of which are denoted by the names of CHEAPSIDE
and EASTCHEAP.* The corn-market on CORNHILL ad-
joined the grass-market in Grasschurch or gracechuRCH
STREET, and the hay-market in FENCHURCH STREET.*
The wool-market was held round the churchyard of ST.
MARY WOOLCIIURCH. The grocers were established in
SOPERS' LANE f the buckler-makers in BUCKLERSBURY ';
and the buttery are the only parts of the old edifice now remaining. The
Greyfriars were sometimes called the Minorites, but the name of the
Minories is derived, as has been said above, from the Minoress nuns, and
not from the Minorite friars.
^ Pauli, Pictures of Old England^ pp. 425 — ^427,
' St. Olaf was the great saint of Scandinavia.
* See Worsaae, Danes and Norwegians^ p. 16; Stanley, Study of Modem
History^ p. 361 ; Stow, Survey^ bk. iv. p. 113 ; Timbs, Curiosities of London^
p. 123.
^ From the Anglo-Saxon ceap^ sale.
* The name of Fenchurch is probably from ftenum or foin, hay. The
western haymarket dates from a much later period.
* Now Queen Street, Cheapside.
' Stow, however, gives another derivation for this name. SMrs<ey,
Book iU. p. 27.
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Concentration of Trades. 283
and LOTHBURY, a corruption of Lattenbury, was inha-
bited by the workmen in brass and copper. The names
of the POULTRY, the VINTRY, FISH STREET, BREAD
STREET, MILK STREET, LEADENHALL,^ LEATHER LANE,
SILVER STREET, SHIREMONGERS' ^ or Sermon LANE, and
SMITHFIELD, indicate the localities appropriated to other
trades.
The streets in the neighbourhood of ST. PAUL'S were
occupied by those who ministered to the temporal and
spiritual necessities of the frequenters of the church.
dean's court, doctors' commons, and godliman
STREET, still form an oasis of ecclesiastical repose amid
the noise and whirr of the city. At the great entrance
of the cathedral the scene must have resembled that
which we see at the doors of continental churches, which
are often blocked up by stalls for the sale of rosaries,
crucifixes, and breviaries. We read in Stow's Survey :
" This street is now called PATERNOSTER ROW, because
of the stationers or text-writers that dwelled there, who
wrote and sold all sorts of books then in use, namely
A B C, or Absies, with the Paternoster, Ave, Creed,
Graces, &c. There dwelled also Turners of Beads, and
they were called Paternoster-makers At the end
of Paternoster Row is AVE MARY LANE, so called upon
the like occasion of text-writers and bead-makers then
dwelling there. And at the end of that lane is likewise
creed lane, late so called, .... and amen corner is
added thereunto betwixt the south end of Warwick Lane,
and the north end of Ave Mary Lane." *
* A corruption of Leather Hall.
' A Sheremonier was a man who cut bullion into shape ready for coining.
The MINT, in Bermondsey, was the issuing place at a later date.
• Stow, Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster^ voL i. p. 174.
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284 The Street Names of London.
Of the recreations of old London but few memorials
are preserved in names. It is difficult to realize the fact
that tournaments were held on London Bridge, or in the
middle of Cheapside. The name of QUEEN STREET,
Cheapside, seems to have arisen from an ancient stone
balcony which had been erected at the corner of the
street in order to enable the queens of England to enjoy
the spectacle of the tourneys which on special occasions
were held in this great thoroughfare.^
Drury Lane Theatre was built on the site of a cockpit
called the Phoenix, the memory of which is perpetuated,
not only in the *' Rejected Addresses," but by the names
of PHCENIX ALLEY, leading to Long Acre, and of COCK-
PIT ALLEY in Great Wyld Street
The names of many of our streets preserve the remem-
brance of the sites of the town houses of great historical
families. These were originally within the walls.* ADDLE
STREET, near the Guildhall, is believed by Stow to owe
its name to the royal residence of Athelstane, which once
stood upon the site. In the time of Henry VL the
Percys, Earls of Northumberland, had their town house
near Fenchurch Street, on the spot which still goes by
the name of Northumberland alley. The De la
Poles, Dukes of Suffolk, lived in SUFFOLK LANE, Cannon
Contiguous to the Cathedral at Geneva are streets called Des Tontes Ames,
Des Limbes, Du Paradis, and D'Enfer. Salverte, Essai^ vol. ii. p. 336.
1 The permanent stone balcony was erected in 1329, in consequence ot
the fall of one of the temporary wooden structures previously used. The
name of the street was bestowed in 1667, when it was rebuilt after the
Great Fire. See Mackay, History 0/ London, p. 97 ; Cunningham, Hand"
dooi,p, 185.
' Richard III. resided in Castle Baynard, and Duke Humphrey of Glou-
cester, and Prince Rupert, in the Barbican, old palace yard reminds
us of the ancient palace of the kings of England, the site of which is now
occupied by the Houses of Parliament
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sports and Pastimes, 285
Street ; duck's foot lane, close by, is probably a
corruption of Duke's Foot Lane; the Manners family
resided in RUTLAND PLACE, Blackfriars; the Earls of
Devonshire in DEVONSHIRE SQUARE, Bishopsgate ; and
the Earls of Bridgewater in BRIDGEWATER SQUARE,
Barbican. LONDON HOUSE yard, in St. Paul's Church-
yard, marks the site of the palace attached to the See
of London.
The greater security which existed under the Tudor
princes is shown by the fact, that the protection of the
walls was gradually found to be unnecessary, and
mansions began to cover the ground between London
and Westminster, where hitherto churchmen only had
found it safe to reside.
The Bishops of Bangor, Chichester, Durham, and Ely
lived, respectively, in BANGOR COURT, Shoe Lane;
CHICHESTER RENTS, Chancery Lane ; DURHAM street,
Temple Bar ; and ELY PLACE, Holborn. SAFFRON hill,
Bear Ely Place, has obtained its name from the saffron
which grew abundantly in the gardens of Ely House.
Between the river Fleet and Temple Bar, we find
SALISBURY SQUARE, which occupies the site of the
.courtyard of the old Salisbury House, belonging to the
see of Sarum ; while DORSET STREET and DORSET
COURT, Fleet Street, mark the position of the residence
of the Sackvilles, Earls of Dorset. In Clerkenwell we
find a NORTHAMPTON SQUARE, which was formerly the
garden of the Earls of Northampton ; and in AYLESBURY
STREET and COBHAM ROW, both in the same fashionable
locality, were the houses of the Earls of Aylesbury, and
of the celebrated Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham.
The Wriothesleys, Earls of Southampton, lived in
SOUTHAMPTON BUILDINGS, Chancery Lane, and
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286 The Street Names of London,
Christopher Hatton, Eh'zabeth's chancellor, had his
house in HATTON GARDEN.
But the neighbourhood of the Strand ^ was the favourite
residence of the great nobles, probably because the
execrable condition of the roads rendered necessary the
use of the Thames as the chief highway. At the begin-
ning of the seventeenth century the Strand must have pre-
sented the appearance of a continuous line of palaces,
with gardens sloping down to the brink of the then silvery
Thames. ESSEX STREET, DEVEREUX COURT, and ESSEX
COURT, point out the spot where Elizabeth's favourite
plotted and rebelled. The great space which is now
occupied by SURREY STREET, HOWARD STREET, NOR-
FOLK STREET, and ARUNDEL STREET, IS a proof of the
wide extent of the demesne attached to Arundel House,
the residence of "all the Howards." The present
SOMERSET HOUSE Stands on the site of the palace built
by the Protector Somerset, which afterwards became the
residence of Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I. Those
nests of poverty and crime called CLAREHOUSE COURT,
CLARE MARKET, and NEWCASTLE STREET, replace the
mansion and gardens of Clare House, the residence of
the Earls of Clare, afterwards Dukes of Newcastle.
Near CRAVEN BUILDINGS, Drury Lane, stood the house
of Lord Craven, a soldier of the Thirty Years' War,
celebrated as the hero of Creutznach, and the champion
of the Winter Queen. CLIFFORD'S INN and GRAY'S INN
were the mansions of the Barons Clifford and Gray de
Wilton. Peter de Savoy, uncle of Eleanor of Provence,
the queen of Henry HI., built for himself a palace at the
SAVOY, which was afterwards converted into a conventual
establishment. Facing each other, on opposite sides of
* See Ctmningham, Handbook for London, pp. 783, 784-
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Houses occupied by Historic Families, 287
the Strand, stood the mansions of the two sons of the
great Sir William Cecil, Lord Burleigh. The elder son,
created Earl of Exeter, occupied his father's house,
which has now made way for BURLEIGH STREET,
EXETER HALL, and EXETER STREET ; while the younger
son, Sir Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, built Salisbury
House on the site where CECIL STREET and SALISBURY
STREET are now standing.^
In close proximity to the houses of the Cecils was,
as we have seen, the *' convent garden," belonging to
the abbot and monks of Westminster. After the
dissolution of the monasteries this property came into
the hands of the Russell family, and here the Earls of
Bedford built a mansion, which, about a century and a
half ago, gave place to SOUTHAMPTON street, russell
STREET, TAVISTOCK STREET, and BEDFORD STREET.
The Russells then removed to Bloomsbury, where
BEDFORD SQUARE, SOUTHAMPTON STREET, RUSSELL
SQUARE, TAVISTOCK SQUARE, and CHENIES STREET,
preserve the memory of the great house they occupied.
SYDNEY ALLEY, and LEICESTER SQUARE, remind US of
another historic name — ^that of Robert Sydney, Earl of
Leicester, whose house stood on what is now called
LEICESTER PLACE. GEORGE STREET, VILLIERS STREET,
DUKE STREET, OR ALLEY,^and BUCKINGHAM STREET, pre-
serve every syllable of the name and titles of " Steenie,"
the fortunate and unfortunate avourite of James I. and
"baby Charles." Of all the palaces which once lined
1 The Adelphi, with the five streets— Robert Street, John Street, George
Street, James Street, and Adam Street, was built in 1760, by four brothers
of the name of Adam.
« Now improved away. See Stanley, Lecture on the Sttidy of Modem
History ^ p. 362.
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288 The Street Nantes of London,
the Strand, Northumberland House is the only one
which still remains.
If the Strand is full of memories of the statesmen and
favourites of Elizabeth, PICCADILLY ^ brings us to the
time of the Restoration. ALBEMARLE Street and
CLARGES Street,^ ARLINGTON Street and BENNET
Street,^ The CLARENDON, CORK Street,* COVENTRY
Street,^ DOVER Street, JERMYN Street and ST. alban's
Place,« SACKVILLE Street and DORSET Place,^ CLEVE-
LAND Row,8 KING Street, Charles Street, St. james'
Street, duke Street, YORK Street, and The ALBANY,*
are in convenient proximity to PALL MALL, and the
MALL in St. James's Park, where the courtiers from
whom these streets derived their names played at Paille
Maille while the merry monarch fed his ducks.
There are a few scattered names to remind us of
persons and events memorable in later times. HARLEY
Street, OXFORD Street, HENRIETTA Street, CAVENDISH
Square, and HOLLES Street, take their names from
Harley, Earl of Oxford, and his wife Lady Henrietta
Cavendish Holies. HANS Place and SLOANE Street
bear the names of Sir Hans Sloane, who invested his
fees in the purchase of the manor of Chelsea, and in the
1 So called from Piccadilla Hall, a shop for the sale of piccadillas, the
fashionable peaked or turn-over collars.
' Monk, Duke of Albemarle, and Nan Claiges, Duchess of Albemarle.
• Henry Bennet, Earl of Arlingjton,
4 Boyle, Earl of Cork.
" Lord Keeper Coventry.
• Henry Jermyn, Earl of St. Albans, one of the heroes of Gnunmonfs
Memoirs.
' Edward Sackville, Earl of Dorset
^ The ''beautiful fury," Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland, mistress
of Charles II.
' Charles II., and James, Duke of York and Albany.
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Streets dating from the Restoration. 289
formation of a collection of natural curiosities as cele-
brated as Harley's collection of MSS. or the marbles of
the Earl of Arundel. PIMLICO takes its name from a
celebrated character of a very different order— one Ben
Pimlico, who kept a suburban tavern, first at Hoxton,
but afterwards transferred to the neighbourhood of
Chelsea.^
The dates at which other streets were built can, in
many cases, be determined by the names they bear.
If the SAVOY reminds of the queen of Henry III.,
PORTUGAL Street, Lincoln's Inn, carries us to the time
of the marriage of Charles II. QUEEN ANNE Street,
MARLBOROUGH Street, HANOVER Square, Great GEORGE
Street, REGENT Street, KING WILLIAM Street, and
VICTORIA Street, afford dates, more or less definite, of
certain metropolitan extensions or improvements ; while
BLENHEIM Street, QUEBEC Street, VIGO Street, WATER-
LOO Bridge, and TRAFALGAR Square, are instances of
that system of nomenclature which has been so exten-
sively carried out in Paris.
1 The MALAKOFF, in like maimer, was called from a tavern kept by
Alexander Ivanovitch Malakoff, a ropemaker discharged for drunkenness
from the arsenal at Sebastopol. Strange origin for a ducal title. See
Chamock, Local Etymology^ pp. 172, 210,
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290 Historic Sites.
CHAPTER XII.
HISTORIC SITES.
Places of popular assemhly—^iunnimede^Moot-hiU'^Detmold^T^e Scoftdi-
navian *^ things^' or parlianunts—The Thir^dlir of Icdandr^The Thmg-
walls and Dingwdls of Great Britain — Tynwald Hill in the Iskof Man
^Battle-fields: Lichfield^ Battle, Slaughter— Conflicts with the Danes—
Eponytnic Names — Myths of Early English History — Carisbrooke^-Hengist
and Horsa — Cissa^j^Me-^ Cerdic — Offa — Maes Garmon — British Ckuf-
tains — Valetta — Alexander — Names of the Roman Emperors— Modern
Names of this Class,
In the preceding chapter it has been shown how the
history of a great city tends to perpetuate itself in its
street-names. It would be easy, did space permit, to
apply the same method of investigation to other cities,
such as Paris,^ Rome, or Athens. We might show, from
the evidence of names, how Paris was originally confined
to the little island in the Seine, upon which the cathedral
of N6tre Dame now stands ; and how the louvre was
at first a hunting-seat; and the TUILERIES a tile-yard
(French tuiU, a tile). The names of the Palatine, the
Vatican, and the Janiculum, of the Forum, and the Latin
Gate at Rome, or of the Ceramicus, the Acropolis,
1 This has been imperfectly attempted for Paris in a work by M. Ferdinand
Heuzey, entitled, Curiositis de la Citi de Paris, Histoire Efymologique de ses
Rues, &c. Paris, 1864.
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Places of Popular A ssembly. 29 1
and the Pnyx at Athens, would prove similarly sug-
gestive.^
But the instance of London may suffice as an example
of the value of local names in city history, and in this
chapter we will rather pursue another department of the
subject, and collect the names of various scattered HIS-
TORIC SITES — names which conserve the remembrance
of historic personages, which denote the localities of
great battles, or of places otherwise memorable in the
history of the human race.
The places where popular self-government has at any
time been exercised, are frequently indicated by local
names.
RUNNIMEDE, the "meadow of the runes," was the
ancient Anglo-Saxon field of council \^ and, on the spot
thus consecrated to national liberty, the privileges of the
great feudatories of England were afterwards secured by
the Magna Charta.
In Scotland the ancient place of assembly was the
MOTE HILL at Scone, near the ancient capital of Scot-
land.' In the midst of the town of Hawick there is a
singular conical mound called the MOAT HILL. We may
notice also the names of the MOOT HILL at the eastern
end of Lyne Bridge, and the MOTE OF THE MARK in
Galloway. On the confines of the Lake District, there
are hills called MOUTAY and CAERMOTE ; and there is a
^ There are monographs of greater or less value on the street-names of
the cities of Brunswick, Heiligenstadt, Hildesheim, Koln, Nuremberg, and
Amsterdam. A curious list of German street-names will be found in f orste-
mann, DetU, OrUnamen^ pp. 167 — 169.
■ Matthewof Westminster, A. D. 12 15.
' This, perhaps the most interesting historical memorial in Scotland, has
been recently removed, to improve the view from the drawing-room window !
Palgiave, Normandy and England^ vol. iv« p. 336.
U 2
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292 Historic Sites.
MOOT-HILL at Naseby, all of which have probably served
as the meeting-places of assemblies.^
The Stannary Court of the Duchy of Cornwall is an
assembly which represents, in continuous succession, the
local courts of the ancient Britons. The court was
formerly held in the open air, on the summit of CROKERN
TOR,* where the traveller may still see concentric tiers of
seats hewn out of the rock. The name of Crokem Tor
seems to point to a deliberative assembly,* and WIST-
MAN's WOOD, in the immediate neighbourhood, suggests
the wisdom traditionally imputed to the grave and
reverend seniors who took part in the debates.
In Germany there are several places called Ditmold.
We find the names DETMOLD, DIETMALE, RODENDIT-
MOL, and KIRCHDITMOLD. These were all places of
popular assembly, as the names imply. The first portion
of the name is diet, people, which we have in the name
of Deutschland.* The suffix is mal, a place of assembly,
or a court of justice.*
But the most noticeable traditions of ancient liberties
are associated with the places where the Things,^ the
^ Ferguson, Northmen in Cumberland^ p. 33 ; Pennant, Scotland^ toL liL
p. 115.
* See Gough's Camden, vol. i. pp. 43, 49 ; Murray, Handbook of Deven^
P-95-
> We have the Welsh word gragan^ to speak loud, whence comes the
English verb to croak^ to make a loud noise like a frog or raven. The
creaking of a door and the name of the corncrake are from the same root
Compare the Sanskrit kruf^ to call out, the Greek icpii^m^ and the Latin
crocire. See Diefenbach, VergUichendes IVorterb. voL ii. p. 591 ; Ceitua^
Glossary, Na 184; Whitaker, History of Manchester^ vol il p. 313.
* See p. 59, supra,
^ Piderit, Orisnamen^ pp. 309, 310; Forstemann, Die Deutscken Ortsna-
*"^**^^ P- 95 5 Diefenbach, Vergieich, Wbrterb. voL ii. pp. 59, 706.
< The word thing is derived from the Old Norse tinga, to speak, and is
allied to the English word to think. See Ihre, Ghisarium^ SuiogotAscum^
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The ThingvetltK 293
judicial and legislative assemblies of the Scandinavian
nations, were wont to meet. These institutions, of which
. we find traces in all the regions colonized by the North-
men, were derived from the parent country, Norway,
where there was an Althing^ or general assembly, and
four district Things for the several provinces.^ The
Norwegian parliament still goes by the name of the
Stor-thingy or great council. The Thing usually met on
some island, hill, or promontory, where its deliberations
could be carried on secure from lawless disturbance.
The Swedish parliament used to assemble on a mound
near Upsala, which still bears the name of TINGSHOGEN
{Thing'hougK)}
One of the chief attractions for Icelandic tourists is a
vast sunken lava-plain which bears the name of the
THINGVELLIR,' or " council plains." In the midst of this
plain there is an isolated area, some two hundred feet long
and fifty broad, which is guarded on every side by deep
rifts,* produced by the cooling of the lava. Across these
rifts the sole access is by one narrow bridge of rock. This
vol. ii p. 901 ; Haldorsen, Islandske Lexicon^ vol. ii. p. 407. The bodyguard
of the Danish kings was called thingamanna liih, its chief duty being to
escort the iDonarch at these assemblies.
* Laing, ffeimskringia, vol i. pp. 103, 114 — 119.
• Ibid. vol. i. pp. 89, 117.
« Often wrongly called the Thingvalla. This, however, is the genitive
case. The word vollr means a plain or field. The root is the Norse voir,
a stick or post (Maeso-Gothic vaius : cf. the English goal, a winning-/*?^/).
The voUr takes its name from the nature of the inclosing fence, like ton,
Aanty garthy &c. See pp. 119 — 121, and the notes on the words bally and
baily pp. 247, 274, supra; also Diefenbach, VergUUh, JVorierb. vol. i.
p. 179.
< A tradition which still lingers on the spot avers that during the battle
which ensued upon the hearing of the suit for the burning of Njal*s house,
Flosi, the leader of the burners, took a wild and desperate leap across one
of these chasms. Pasent, Burnt Njal^ voL L p. cxxviii.
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294 Historic SiUs,
spot, so well guarded by nature, is called the ALTHING,
and was the assembly-place of the "general council" of
the whole island. A mound, in the midst of the Althing,
bears the name of the LoGBERG,^ the sacred "hill of
laws," from whose summit, for nine hundred years, all
the enactments of the Althing had to be promulgated
before they could receive the force of laws.*
Each of the twelve districts into which Iceland is
divided had also its Things where the peasant-nobles
carried into effect their privileges of local self-govern-
ment THINGANES, THINGSKALER, ARNESTHING, THING-
ORE, aqd THINGMULI, were, as the names denote;
places at which some of these subordinate assemblies
were accustomed to be held.
The Northmen introduced their Things into England.
The very name survives among us as a household word.
A "meeting," according to Dr. Dasent, is the mot thing,
or assembly of freeholders, and at the " hustings," or
hotise things, the duly qualified householders still as-
semble to delegate their l^slative powers to their repre-
sentatives in parliament*
In the Danelagh, as well as in most of the detached
Scandinavian colonies, we find local names which prove
the former existence of these Things.
^ The upper chamber of the Norwegian parliament is called the Z^.
Crichton, Scandinavia, vol. i. p. 158.
• The Thingvellir have been described sixteen times by recent tniTeQeis.
Perhaps the most graphic accounts are those given by Dasent, Bumi A)»4
vol. L pp. cxxv.— <:xxxix. ; Norsemen in Iceland, p. 207 ; Dufierin, LMers
from High Latitudes, pp. 84—^5 ; and Baring-Gould, Iceland, pp. 67 — ^71.
The Icelandic parliament, with full legislative and judicial powers, Gon«
tinued to meet at the Thingvellir till the year 1800. The legislative powas
have now ceased ; the judicial functions were restored in 1845, since which
time the meeting-place has been at Reykjavik.
* Dasent, Burnt Njal, vol. i. p. li. ; Worsaae, Danes, p. 19.
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Thingwall 295
In the Shetland Islands, sandsthing, aithsthing,
DELTING, NESTING, and LUNZIESTING, were the places
of assembly for the local Things of the several islands,^
while TINGWALL seems to have been the spot where the
AltMngy or general assembly, was held. In a fresh*
water lake, in the parish of Tingwall, there is an island
still called the SAWTING. On it are four great stones,
the seats for the officers of the cou^f, and the access is
by stepping-stones laid in the shallow waters of the
lake.^ In the Shetlands, the old Norwegian laws are
even now administered at open courts of justice, which
still go by the ancient name of Lawtings.
In the Ross-shire colony we find the names of DING-
WALL and TAIN,' while TINWALD Hill, near Dumfries,
was the assembly place of the colonists who settled on
the northern shore of the Solway.* Not far from the
centre of the Cheshire colony in the Wirall, we find the
village of thingwall.* Near Wrabness, within the
limits of the little colony in the north-east of Essex, we
find a place whose name, DENGEWELL, probably marks
the spot where the local jurisdiction was exercised. The
three neighbouring Danish parishes of Thorp le Soken,
Walton le Soken, and Kiyby le Soken, possessed the
privil^e of holding a soke^ or local court, independent
of the jurisdiction of the hundred — a vestige, probably,
of their ancient Scandinavian franchises.
^ These were usually held in the centre of circles of upright stones,
perhaps the erection of an earlier race. See Wilsoo, Pre-hisUyric Annals^
p. 113 ; Poste, Brit, Retearches, p. 256 ; Worsaae, Danes^ p. 232.
* Martin, Description of the Western Isles, p. 383, quoted by Train, Isle of
Man, voL L p. 299.
* Worsaae, Danes and Norwegians, p. 260.
* lb. p. 204 ; Crichton, Scandinavia, voL l p. 158. See p. 172, supra,
« Worsaae, Danes, p. 70.
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2^ Historic Sites.
In the absence of all documentary evidence, I was
inclined to believe that the apparently Danish names in
Devonshire I must be explained from Saxon sources; I
felt that I should hardly be justified in placing a Scandi-
navian colony in that county, so far removed from their
compatriots in the Danelagh. But all cause for hesita-
tion was removed by the accidental discovery of an
isolated farmhouse bearing the name of DINGWELL. It
stands on a plateau, steeply scarped on three sides, and
about a mile from the village of THUR-SHEL-TON, a name
every syllable of which is of the Icelandic type, denoting
the tun or enclosure round the skaaler, or wooden booths,
which were usually erected at some little distance from
the Thingvellir for the convenience of persons attending
the meeting. The Thing was inaugurated by sacrifices
and religious ceremonies, which enables us to understand
why the name of the deity Thor, should appear in the
first syllable of this name Thurshelton.* These two
names, Thurshelton and Ding^ell, surrounded as they
are by names of the Norse type, seem to prove conclu-
sively* that the Northmen must have settled in this
remote comer of the island in sufficient numbers to
establish their usual oi^anized self-government
In the Danelagh we meet with several places bearing
names of the same class, which may, with greater or less
certainty, be regarded as meeting places of local Things.
1 See pp. 179, 180, supra,
* Near Tingwall, in Shetland, we find Scalloway, or Booth Bay.
Worsaae, Dams, p. 232. Mr. Ferguson thinks Voitxagscale^ near Keswick,
is an analogous name. Northmen^ P- S'*
s This conclusion, it is fair to add, has been ably controveited by Mr.
King, in Notes and Queries, Nov. 5th, 1864. He would derive the name of
Thurshelton from a neighbouring stream called the Thistle Brook, and is of
opinion that all the apparently Norse names in Devonshire may be explained
from Saxon sources. Valeai quantum.
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Tynwald HilL 297
In Northamptonshire we have, near Kettering, a place
called FINEDON, which was anciently written Thingdon,
and there is a place called DINGLEY near Market Har-
borough. Not far from Stamford we find TINWELL in
the county of Rutland, and TINGEWICK, in the north of
Buckinghamshire. In Yorkshire, there are TINSLEY near
Rotherham, and THWING near Bridlington. In Durham,
on the extreme northern border of the Danelagh, we
find DINSDALE,^ a place which is almost entirely sur-
rounded by one of the bends of the Tees, and is thus
well protected from hostile intrusion, as is the case with
so many of these sites. I cannot discover the place where
the Lincolnshire Thing assembled, unless indeed it be
at THIMBLEBY or LEGBOURN.
In the Scandinavian district of Cumberland and West-
moreland, the word Thing does not appear in any local
name ; but the Vale of LEGBERTHWAITE, no doubt, con-
tained the logbergf or " hill of laws," from which the local
enactments were promulgated.^
By far the most interesting of these ancient West-
minsters is TYNWALD HILL in the Isle of Man. Less thun
a century ago the Isle of Man preserved a sort of quasi
independence of the British crown, and it was only in the
year 1764 that the Duke of Athol parted with the last of
the royal rights, which had descended to him from the
ancient Norwegian kings. But though the representative
of the Norwegian jarls has divested himself of his regal
prerogatives, the descendants of the vikings still retain a
shadow of their ancient legislative powers. The old
Norse Thing has survived continuously in the Isle of
Man to the present day, though in Iceland, in Norway,
1 Tindale in Nortlittmberland is probftbly the Tyne dale.
* Ferguson, Northmen in Cumberland^ p. 32.
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298 Historic Sites^
and in Denmark, its functions have been intermitted, or
have long ceased. The three estates still assemble every
year, and no laws are valid in the island unless they have
first been duly proclaimed from the summit of TYNWALD
HILL.^ This is an ancient mound some eighteen feet in
height, and constructed with four concentric circular
stages, whose diameters are, respectively, 80, 27, 15, and
7 feet*
The ancient place of the coronation of the kings of
England was KINGSTON in Surrey, where, in the centre
of the town is still to be seen the stone on which the
Saxon monarchs sat while the ceremony was performed.
TRONDHJEM, or DRONTHEIM, was in like manner the
" throne home," or coronation seat of the kings of Norway,*
and kOnigsberg,* in the extreme east of Prussia, shows
the way in which that agglomerated kingdom has ex-
tended itself westward from the ancient central seat of
the grand master of the Teutonic Knights.* KINGSGATE,
in the Isle of Thanet, marks the spot where Charles 11.
landed after his exile ; and QUEENBOROUGH, in the Isle
of Sheppey, is a proof of the development of the English
navy in the time of Edward III. The manor of Hull, or
KINGSTON-UPON-HULL, was purchased by Edward I.;
and Coningsby, Coneysby, Conington, Cunningham,
* Palgrave, Engiish Commonwealth^ vol. L p. 122; Worsaae, Dana^
p. 295 ; Crichton, Scandinmna^ voL i. p. 158. A full account of the powers
of the estates, and of the ceremonies observed when they are convened, will
be found in Train, Isle of Man, vol. iL pp. 189—201.
■ Train, Isle o/Moh^ vol. i. pp. 271—273 ; Poste, Brit, Ra. p. 256.
' It is possible, however, that the root may be the same as that of
Thrandia. Crichton, Scandinavia^ vol. i. p. 32.
4 Mone, Cdtische Forxkungaiy p. 265, makes Aigos the equivalent of
Konigsbeig ! arg, a prince ; ais^ a fortress ! I
' There are ten Konigsbergs in Germany. See Buttmaan, Orttnamun^
p. 2!^ I Forstemann, OrtsnanuHj p. 299.
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Battle-fields. 299
Kingthorpe, Kinsby, King's Lynn, Lyme Regis, and
many similar names, denote the residences, or manors, of
Saxon, Danish, and English monarchs.
Local names often conserve the memory of famous
battles, or sometimes they tell us of forgotten contests of
which no other memorial remains.
Probably the greatest reverse ever suffered by the
Roman arms was the defeat which Hannibal inflicted on
Flaminius at Thrasymene. The brook which flows
through this scene of slaughter is still called the SANGUI-
NETTO, and the name of the neighbouring village of
OSSAIA shows that the plain must have long been
whitened by the bones of the fallen Romans.^
The Teutonic division of the Cimbric horde which in-
vaded Italy, was annihilated by Marius in the year 102,
B.C, and the slaughter is said to have reached the im-
mense number of 100,000 men. The battlefield after-
wards bore the name of the Campi Putridi, a name which
is preserved by the Provencal village of POURRifeRES.
The Temple of Victory built by the conqueror is now the
parish church of ST. VICTOIRE.*
Of the great battles which have changed the course of
the world's history, few are more important than the
defeat of the Huns by the Emperor Otho in the tenth
century. This battle, regarded as to the magnitude of
its results, can only be compared with the overthrow of
the Saracens by Charles Martel. The one rescued
Christianity, the other saved civilization. The Magyar
host, like that of the Saracens, was all but exterminated,
^ Dennis, Eiruria, vol. iip. 457 ; Duke of Buckingham, PrivaU Diary ^
voL iii. pp. 658 — 666.
' Sheppard, Fail of Rome, p. 164.
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300 Historic Sites.
and the name of the leichfeld, or " Field of Corpses,"
near Augsburg, informs us of the precise locality of the
fearful slaughter.^ .
Our two English LICHFIELDS,^ one in Staffordshire*
and the other in Hampshire, where are seven barrows,*
as well as leckhampstead in Buckinghamshire, are
probably memorials of battles of which history has pre-
served no certain record. The chroniclers tell us that in
the year 1 173, an army of 10,000 Flemings under Robert,
Earl of Leicester, was almost totally annihilated at LACK-
FORD, near Bury St. Edmund's, by Richard Lucy, Chief
Justice of England. LECKFORD in Hampshire may also
not improbably indicate the site of a bloody battle which
was gained by Cymen over the Britons in this immediate
neighbourhood.
The final overthrow of the Britons by Athelstan in
the year 936 occurred at a place called BOLLEIT, in
Cornwall. This name means in Cornish the " House of
Blood."
The name of BATTLEFIELD,* about three miles from
Shrewsbury, is a memorial of the decisive contest which
Shakespeare has so vividly brought before us; and an
additional memorial of the fiery Welsh chieftain is found
in an ancient tumulus near Corwen, which bears the name
^ Palgrave, Normandy and England, vol. ii. pp. 658 — 666.
* The German word letch, 3. corpse, is preserved in the lyckgate of onr
chnrchyards, where the corpse awaits the approach of the priest ; and in the
lykewake, or funeral feast, which is celebrated in some parts of Scotland.
See Drake, Shakspeare and his Times, vol. i. p. 234.
' The city arms are a field surcharged with dead bodies. Tradition refers
the name to the martyrdoms of a thousand Christian converts. See Fuller,
Church History, vol. i. p. 34.
* Cough's Camden, vol. i. p. 205.
" The collegiate church of Battlefield was founded by Henry IV. in com-
memoration of the victory. Pennant, Wales, vol. iL p. 41 1.
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Battle-fields of Shrewsbury^ Bannocbum, & Hastings. 301
of Dinas Mont Owain Glyndwr, and from the summit of
which he is said to have been in the habit of gazing down
the valley of Dee.
Close to Bannocbum is the inclosure of BLOODY FOLD,
where the Earl of Gloucester fell, and the name of GILLIES
HILL commemorates the station of the camp followers
who created the fatal panic
Of the destruction of the Spanish Armada, we have
a geographical reminiscence in the name of port-NA-
SPANIEN in Ireland, where one of the galleons of the
Invincible Armada was dashed to pieces.^
There is a place called BATTLE FLATS north of Bos-
worth, though perhaps hardly near enough to be con-
fidently referred to as the scene of the struggle. CROWN
HILL, a small eminence on the plain, is pointed out as
the spot where Stanley placed Richard's crown on the
head of Henry VII.
The flying cavaliers, after the defeat at Naseby, were
overtaken and cut to pieces at a place now called
SLA UGHTERFORD, where the road to Harborough crosses
the Welland ;* and. a part of the route by which Mon-
mouth's army marched to the night attack at Sedgemoor,
still goes by the name of WAR LANE.*
The names of the town of battle in Sussex, and of
BATTLE FLATS near Stamford Bridge, have already been
mentioned as instances in point* SENLAC {Sangue Lac)y
the Norman name of the battle-field of Hastings, still
survives as a local name in the neighbourhood of the
town of Battle, standard hill, close by, is said to
* Goldwin Smith, Irish History and Irish Character, p. 85.
* James, Northamptonshire, p. 5a
s Macattky, History ofEngtand^ voL i. p. 608.
* See p. 7, supra.
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302 Historic Sites.
be the place where the Conqueror raised his standard
previous to the commencement of the engagement, and
MONTJOIE, one of the four wards of the town, commemo-
rates the spot to which he rode in triumph at the con-
clusion of the fight.^
About six miles south of Foictiers there is a place
called MAUPERTUIS, a name supposed to commemorate
the exact site of the battle-field which proved so disas-
trous to the chivalry of France. Frederick the Great's
victory over the Austrians at Hohenfriedberg, has given
the name of SIEGESBERG, or " Victory Hill," to an emi-
nence which stands within the confines of the battle-
field.2
The terror which was inspired by the inroads of the
Danes, and the joy with which their discomfiture was
hailed, is evidenced by numerous local names, which are
often associated with traditionary battle-legends whick
still linger among the surrounding villagers. Such a
tradition is connected with a camp in Hampshire called
Ambrose Hole, hard by which runs a rivulet called
DANESTREAM.* At SLAUGHTERFORD in Wiltshire,* and
at BLEDLOE*^ {bloody hlaw) in Buckinghamshire, there
are traditions that great slaughters of the Danes took
place.
In the Saxon Chronicle (A.D. 1016) we have an account
of the great victory gained by Cnut over Eadmund Iron-
side, which led to the division of the kingdom between
the two monarchs. The Chronicle places the battle at
1 Hartshome, ScUopia AnUqua, p. 241 ; ^tlgny^ Normandy and En^and^
vol iii. p. 406.
• Carlyle, Frederick the Great^ vol. iv. p. 137.
• Gough's Camden, vol. i. p. 187.
• Ibid. vol. i. p. 141.
B Ibid. vol. ii. p. 41.
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Conflicts with the Danes, 303
Assandun in Essex. Near Billericay there is a place
now called Assingdon, and in the neighbourhood we
find twenty barrows, and the Aames of CANEWDON and
BATTLEBRIDGE.1
On CAMPHILL near Rochdale, the Danes are said to
have encamped on the eve of the battle that was fought
in the neighbourhood ; and KILLDANES, the name of the
valley below Camphill, tells us the story of that bloody
day.*
Near Stow-on-the-Wold in Gloucestershire is a Danish
earthwork called Bury Camp, and the adjacent villages
bear the names of slaughter and leach.* In a field
called KNAP DANE in the parish of Nettlecombe, a vast
quantity of bones was found, supposed to be those of
the Danes who landed at Watchet in the year 918.*
At DANEBURY near Chelmsford, and at danes-banks
in the parish of Chartham in Kent* the outlines of camps
are still to be traced. GRAVENHILL is also the legendary
scene of a battle with the Danes. It is surrounded with
entrenchments, and is covered with mounds, which are
probably the graves of the fallen warriors.® At DANES
GRAVES on the Yorkshire wolds numerous small tumuli
are still visible.^ The name of DANESFORD, in Shrop-
shire, is supposed to be a memorial of the Danes who
wintered at the neighbouring town of Quatford in the
year 896.® dantsey or "Danes Island" in Wiltshire,
^ Gotigh's Camden, vol. ii. p. 131.
^ Davies, in PhilologUcU Transactions^ for 1855, p. 261.
' Ibid, vol, i. p. 407.
* Ibid. vol. i. p. 90.
■ Ibid. vol. i. p. 354.
< Kennett, Parochial AniiquiHeSy vol. i. p. 5a
7 Worsaae, Danes and Norwegians, p. 40.
8 Hartshorae, Salopia Antiqua^ p. 260.
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304 Historic SiUs»
was formerly the property of the family of the Easter-
lings,^ a name usually given to the Vikings from the
East
Ware in Hertfordshire seems to have been the place
at which Alfred constructed his weir across the river Lea,
in order to cut off the retreat of the Danish fleet*
On Brent Knoll near Athelney in Somersetshire, is a
camp which tradition ascribes to Alfred, and at the foot
of the hill, half a mile from its summit, stands the village
of BATTLEBURY.5 There is also a camp near Salisbury
which goes by the name of BATTLESBURY, and there is
a place called BATTLEWIC near Colchester.
By the side of the Dee in Scotland there is an andent
earthwork called NORMAN (Northmen's) DIKES, in the
front of which there is a piece of land which bears the
name of BLOODY stripe.* Near Bumham in Norfolk
there is a camp surrounded by tumuli, the road leading
to which goes by the name of BLOODGATE.* At Chels-
ham in Surrey there is a Roman camp crowning the
summit of a knoll called BOTLE or BATLE HILL.* Two
Roman camps in Forfarshire go by the names of battle
DIKES and WAR DIKES.'^ There is a camp near Cater-
ham called WAR COPPICE ; and the name of caterham
itself may perhaps be referred to the Celtic word catk,
battle. CADBURY, a name which occurs in Somerset-
shire and in Devon, means the "Battle entrenchment"
1 Cough's Camden, vol. i. p. 130.
• St. John, Four Conquests, vol. i. pp. 298, 299 ; Turner, Angio-Saxons,
vol. i. p. 398 ; Gough*s Camden, voL ii. p. 68.
' Cough's Camden, vol. L p. 103.
4 Chalmers, Caledonia^ voL 1. p. 125.
» Cough's Camden, voL ii. p. 197,
« Ibid. vol. i. p. 256.
Chalmers, Caledonia, voL i. pp. 148, 176.
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Eponyntic Names, 305
CATERTHUN, a remarkable Celtic fortress which over-
looks Strathmore, is no doubt ** Battle Hill." The
numerous Cat Stanes in Scotland are supposed to be
memorials of battles. Such are the CATT STANE in
Kirkliston parisUt and the CAIG STONE near Edinburgh.*
From the Anglo-Saxon campy battle, we have a few names
like CAMPTON and KEMPSTON in Bedfordshire.*
In the case of several of these battle-fields we find
traditions which assign a local habitation to the names
of British chieftains or Anglo-Saxon kings. It is pos-
sible that in some of these instances minute fragments
of historic truth have been conserved, but it is needless
to say that the greatest caution must be exercised as to
the conclusions which we allow ourselves to draw. The
traditions are generally vague and obscure, and the
personages whose names are associated with these sites
have often only a mythical, or, to speak technically, an
eponymic existence. This convenient phrase is used to
convey the suggestion that a personal name has been
evolved by popular speculation to account for some geo-
graphical term, the true meaning of which has not been
understood.
A full discussion of this subject would form a curious
and important chapter in what we may call the history
of History.
Most nations have supposed themselves to be de-
scended from some mythical or eponymic ancestor. The
Lydians, the Phoenicians, the Pelasgians, the Dorians,
1 The name of the Caturiges, " the battle kings/ and the personal names
of Catullus, Cadwallon, Cadwallader, St. Chad, and Katleen, contain this
word. See Zeuss, Grammatica Cdtica, vol. i. p. 6 ; Yonge, Christian Namesy
vol. ii. p. 93 ; Wilson, Pre-histaric Annals of Scotland^ pp. 95, 412 ; Monk-
faotise. Etymologies^ p. 58.
* Monkhonse, Etymologies^ pp. 6, 20.
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3o6 Historic Sites.
the iEolians, the Hellenes, the Sicilians, and the Italians,
have respectively traced themselves to mythical per-
sonages whom they called Lydus, Phcenix, Pelasgus,
Dorus, iEolus, Hellen, Siculus, and Italus. Rome was
said to have been built by Romulus; Nineveh by
Ninus ; Memphis by Menes. When we come down to
a later time we are encountered by the still more
extravagant absurdities which fill the pages of
Geoffrey of Monmouth, Layamon, Wace, Matthew
Paris, and Matthew of Westminster, by whom the
origin of all the nations and cities of Europe is traced
to heroes of the Trojan war. We are gravely told that
France takes its name from Francus, a son of Hector,
and Britain from Brute, Prydain, or Pryd, a son of
-^neas ; that Lisbon (OUsipo) was built by Ulysses ;
and Paris by the well-known son of Priam. Tours was
the burial-place of a Trojan named Turonus, and Troyes
was, of course, a colony from Troy. Nuremberg was
built by Nero, and Prussia takes its name from one
Prussus, a brother of Augustus. But these are modest
pretensions when compared with that of the Scots, who
claimed to be descended from Scota, a daughter of
Pharaoh, while the Saracens are assigned to Sarah the
wife of Abraham.^
These wild absurdities are mostly the creation of
authors of a late date, and seldom conceal any esoteric
1 See a series of papers by Pott, in Kuhn's Zeitschrift fur VergUicK
Sprachforschung^ entitled "Mytho-Etymologie;" Grimm, Geschichie d,
DaU, Spr. pp. 776, 784 ; Buckle, History of Crvilization^ vol. i. pp. 2S4 —
286, 295 ; Wright, on "Geoffrey of Monmouth," Essays^ vol. i. p. ai6 ;
Lewis, Credibility of Early Roman History^ vol. i. p. 278; Welsford, Engiisk
Long*^g^% PP* 6 — 16 ; Movers, Die Fhonizier, part ii. vol. ii. p. 297 ; Ver-
siegsm^ Restitution^ p. 102; Davies, Celtic Researches^ pp. 167, 169; Butt-
mann, Mythologus, vol. i.pp. 219 ; vol. ii. pp. 172 — 193.
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Myths of early English History. yyj
truths. The case is often different with the earliest
legends. Thus we are told that Pedias was the wife of
Cranaus, one of the mythical kings of Attica. Under
this disguise we recognise a statement of the fact that
Attica is formed by the union of the mountain district
(xpava^, rocky), and the plain (TreStay, level).^
But the extravagances of Geoffrey of Monmouth, or
the more recondite myths of Grecian history, concern us
less nearly than the eponymic names which fill the
earlier pages of Beda and the Saxon Chronicle. These
narratives are still regarded as historical by the great
mass of half-educated Englishmen,' who seem to have
hardly a conception that, in the ordinary school histories
of England, the chapter " On the arrival of the Saxons**
relates the deeds of personages who, in all probability,
have only an eponymic existence.
To take a few instances. The name of PORTSMOUTH
undoubtedly dates from the time when the commodious
harbour was used as a porttis by the Romans. But
when we read in the Saxon Chronicle that Portsmouth
derives its name from a Saxon chieftain of the name of
Port, who landed there, we conclude at once that the
name of Port is eponymic, that no such personage ever
existed except in the imagination of some early histori-
cal speculator. Again, CARISBROOKE, in the Isle of
Wight, was anciently written Wiht-gara-byrig, Respect-
ing the etymology of this name there can be little
doubt.^ Wiht is a corruption of Vectis, the Roman
^ See a paper by J. K[enriclc], in the Philological Museum^ vol. ii. p. 359;
Pott, "Mytho-Etymologie," in Kuhn*s Zeitschrift, vol. ix. p. 403.
« A well-known M.P. has lately, before a London audience, gravely re-
produced the still more extravagant absurdities of Layamon and Geoffrey as
veritable English history !
* Seep. ^, supra.
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3o8 Historic Sites.
name of the island. The inhabitants of the island would
be called Wiht-ware, and the chief town of the island
would be called Wiht-gara-byrig^ *'the burgh of the
men of Wight," just as Canterbury, or Cant-wara-byrig,
is "the burgh of the men of Kent." But when the
Saxon Chronicle asserts that Wiht-gara-byrig was the
burgh of a Saxon chief named Wihtgar, who was buried
there, we can entertain no doubt that the name of Wiht-
gar, like that of Port, is eponymic.^ But we should
undoubtedly be wrong were we to extend our scepticism
to some other cases. For instance, we read in a later
and more historical portion of the Saxon Chronicle, and
in the Latin version which bears the name of Florence,
that King Harthacnut drank himself to death at a feast
which Osgod Clapha, one of the great nobles of Wessex,
gave in his house at Lambeth to celebrate the marriage
of his daughter Gytha with Tovi the Proud. In this
case there is a very high probability that the London
suburb of CLAPHAM takes its name from the ham of the
Saxon thane.
Or to take another case of a somewhat different cha-
racter. Near Christchurch, in Hampshire, there is a
place called TYRRELL'S FORD, around which a tradition
used to linger that here Tyrrell passed on the day of
the death of Rufus.* There is nothing intrinsically im-
probable about this tradition, and Tyrrell is certainly
not an eponymus. We may even go so far as to lend
an ear to the assertion that Jack Cade was killed at CAT
STREET, near Heathfield in Sussex — especially when we
find that the name was anciently written Cade Street'
1 See Latbam, En^ish Language, vol. L pp. 37 — 40.
' Aubrey, quoted in Cough's Camden, vol. i. p. 187.
• Ibid, vol i. p. 295.
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Hengist and Horsa. 309
Bearing in mind, then, the necessity of great caution
as to the eponymic character of many of the heroes
who figure in Beda and the Saxon Chronicle, we may
proceed to enumerate a few of the more conspicuous of
the localized traditions of the Saxon conquest.
Whether tht names of Hengist and Horsa are wholly
eponymic, or whether there remains a substratum of
historic fact, after all due concessions have been made
to the demands of modem criticism, is a question re-
specting which scholars are not agreed. But we find
their names in many places. Thus at HEliGlSTBURY
HEAD on the Hampshire coast, there is a large funeral
barrow protected by an entrenchment ; and a tumulus
of flints at HORSTED, in Sussex, is said to mark the
sepulchre of Horsa.^ There is also a mound near the
castle wall of Conisbrough which bears the name of
Hengist. Camden asserts that it was his tomb ; and
we learn from Polydore Virgil that in the sixteenth
century a local tradition still survived respecting a great
battle which had been fought upon the spot.* Henry
of Huntingdon informs us that Hengist and. Horsa
fought a battle with the Picts and Scots at Stamford, in
Lincolnshire. A local tradition affirms that the Saxons
came from Kent by sea, and landed near Peterborough,
after sailing up the Nene. This tradition is supported
by the fact, that at about two miles from Peterborough
there is an ancient entrenchment which goes by the name
of HORSEY HILL.^ There is a camp near Chesterford in
1 Lappcnberg, Anglo-Saxon Kings, voL i. p. 72 ; Cough's Camden, vol. u
pp. 3", 336.
s Haigh, Conquest of Britain, p. 257. This is an uncritical work, but
contains a large store of carefully collected, and sometimes valuable facts.
» Ibid, p, 209.
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310 Historic Sites,
Essex, called HINGESTON barrows.^ We have also the
names of HINKSEY near Oxford, anciently Hengestesige ;
HENSTRIDGE in Somerset, anciently Hengestesricg ;^
HINXWORTH in Hertfordshire, dincicxitXy Haingesteworde;
and HENGESTON, anciently Hengestesduriy in Cornwall.
There are many other names of the same class. The
numerous Horsleys and Hinkleys,' are probably only
forest leys or pastures for horse or steed {hengst). Other
names, such as two Horsteads in Sussex, and one in Nor-
folk, Horsham in Sussex and in Norfolk, Horsey in Nor-
folk, and Horsell in Sussex, certainly seem specially to con-
nect some person, or persons, bearing the name of Horsa
with the two English counties of Sussex and Norfolk.*
According to the Saxon Chronicle the kingdom of
the South Saxons was founded by iElle and his three
sons, Cymen, Wlencing, and Cissa. If these names are
not altogether eponymic, as is probably the case, the
account in the Chronicle receives very remarkable con-
firmation from local names. The landing is said to
have taken place at KEYNOR in Selsea, anciently Cymenes-
ora^ or Cymen's shore, where we may suppose the
eldest son was left to guard the ships while the father
and the brothers advanced into the interior.' We find
^ GongVs Camden, voL ii. p. 141.
* Codex Dipt. No. 1002.
s Horsley in Surrey and Derby, Horseley in Gloucester and Stafford, and
three in Northumberland ; Hursley in Hants (Horsanleah, Cod, Dipt,
Na 180), and Hinkley in Leicester.
4 We have also Hinxton in Cambridgeshire, Hensting in Hants, Hincks-
ford in Stafford, Hinxhill in Kent, Hinckford in Essex, Hinchcliff in
Yorkshire, as well as Horsey Isle in Essex, Horsall in Surrey, Horsdun in
Hants, and many other similar names. See Haigh, Conqutst of Britain^
p. 151.
* See Dugdale, MonaH, Ang, vol. vi. p. 1163 ; Cod, Dipl, Na 992.
* CUMNOR in Berks was anciently Ctanenora, Cod, Dipt, No. 214;
Di^dale, Afonast. Ang. vol. i. p. 527.
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Cissa and Cerdic, 3 1 1
the name of iElle at ELSTEAD in Sussex and ELSTEAD
in Surrey.^ The name of LANCING near Shoreham is
certainly very remarkably coincident with that of Wlen-
cing. The name of Cissa may be sought at CISSBURY, a
rude camp on a lofty hill near Worthing,^ as well as
at another camp in Wiltshire called CHISBURY ; also
at CISSANHAM^ in Hampshire, and at CHICHESTER,
anciently Cissan-ceastery the " fortress of Cissa," who,
according to the Chronicle, succeeded in taking the old
Roman city, and made it the capital of his kingdom of
the South Saxons.*
The kingdom of Wessex was founded, we are told, by
Cerdic, through whom Queen Victoria claims to be
lineally descended from Woden ! The name of Cerdic
we find at charford, anciently Cerdices-ford, where
was fought the decisive battle which gave the Saxons
the supremacy as far west as the Hampshire Avon.^
The name of LICHMERE, the moor of corpses, not far
from Charford, seems to mark the precise locality of the
struggle, and is of a more historic character than many
of the rest* The nephew of Cerdic was the eponymic
^ There was another iElIe, foander of the Anglian kingdom of North-
nmbria. To him we may perhaps refer Ellakirk, EUaby, EUard, Ellerbeck,
'Ellerbum, and other Yorkshire names. Ellescroft is said to be the burial
place of the iElle who was killed in a battle with Regner Lodbrook.
'Woraaae, Dams, p. 33.
• Gough*s Camden, vol. i. p. 27a
» Codex Diplom, No. 658.
• Lappenberg, Anglo-Saxon Kings, vol. i. pp. 104 — 106 ; Saxon Chronicle,
A-D. 490. There are the remains of a Saxon camp at Chichester.
' Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 519; Lappenberg, Anglo-Saxon Kings, vol. i.
p. 109. The locality of Cerdices-ora, where the Chronicle (a.d. 514) asserts
that Cerdic landed, has not been satisfactorily identified. Perhaps it may
be Charmouth in Dorset. See Haigh, Conquest rf Britain, p. 312 ; Turner,
Anglo-Saxons, vol. i. p. 271.
• Gough*s Camden, vol. i. p. 178.
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3 1 2 Historic SiUs.
Wihtgar of Carisbrooke Castle, whose claims to an his-
torical existence have already been discussed.
In SEWARDSTONE near Waltham Abbey we have,
perhaps, the name of Seward, king of the East Saxons ;
and Offa, another king of the same people, had a palace
and a tomb at OFFLEY near Hitchin.^ Another Offa, king
of the Mercians, had a palace at OFFENHAM in Wor-
cestershire, and in 773 he is said to have gained a victory
over Eadmund, king of Kent, at OTFORD on the Darent
The name of Wuffa, king of the East Angles, may
perhaps be found at UFFORD in Suffolk, rendlesham,
in the same county, was in the seventh century the resi-
dence of Redwald, another king of the East Angles.
Among other Anglian traditions we are told that king
Atla of Norfolk was the founder of attlebury,* and
that the name of Bebbe, the queen of Ida of Northum-
bria, is to be found in Bebban-burh, npw BAMBOROUGH,
near Berwick-upon-Tweed.* Oswald, a Christian prince
of Mercia, gave his name to OSWESTRY. The strong
natural fortress of EDINBURGH bears the name of Edwin,
king of Northumbria, who extended his kingdom to the
shores of the Forth.*
Ammianus Marcellinus, a more trustworthy authority
than the earlier portion of the Saxon Chronicle, says,
that Valentinian sent over to Britian one Fraomarius,
the king of the Bucinobantes, an Alemannic tribe near
Mayence. These names are perhaps preserved at
BRAMERTON and four BUCKENHAMS, all in Norfolk.*
^ Knapp, English Roots^ pp. ii, 12 ; Gough's Camden, vol. ii. p. 66.
' Lappenbeig, Angio-Saxon Kings^ vol. i. p. Ii6,
' Ibid. p. 119; Saxon Chronicle^ a.d. 547,
* Dbcon, Fasti Ebor, vol. i. p. 44,
• Haigh, Conquest,"^, 163,
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McLes Garmoiu 313
Attempts have been made to identify the spots selected
for an abode by other less distinguished settlers. The
results are of course highly conjectural, to say the least,
but they are perhaps sufficiently curious to justify the
insertion of a few specimens in a note.^
The British traditions conserved in local names are
often more trustworthy than those of the Saxon period.
There is a high probability that MAES GARMON near
Mold was the scene of the famous Alleluia victory, which
was obtained by St. Garmon over the Picts. The good
bishop placed the members of his church militant in
ambush, and when the invaders were fairly entangled in
the intricacies of the valley, a loud shout of Alleluia
from the Welsh created a panic which enabled them to
gain an easy but decisive victory.^
^ Thus we have —
Personal name. Ancient local name. Modem local name.
I Hannodestone {Domesday) .... Harmstone, Lincoln,
Heremod . } Hermodesthorpe (Domesday) • • . Harmthorpe, Lincoln,
( Hennodesworde (Domesday) . . ♦ Harmondswortb,^7V.
Heorogar . Herigerby (Domesday) Harrowby, Lincoln,
IHelgiby (Domesday) Hellaby, Yorks,
Helgefelt (Domesday) Hellifield, Yorks.
Halgefonie(CW:/?i>.No.483) . . HaUiford, iV/*/.
Halganstok (Cod, Dip, No. 701) . . Halstock, Dorset.
Wsermund 5 Waermundeshlaew(Ci7</.Z>/j^.No. 1368) Warmlow, Worces.
' { Wsermundesham ( CW. Dip, No. 18.) . Mimdham, Sussex.
Scylf . . Scylftun(an/.Z>i>. No. 775) . . . ShJlton, Ox/ord.
Bcdca . . Bedan ford (Saxon Chronicle) . , . Bedford.
Childeric . Hildericesham (Domesday) .... Hildersham, York.
At Navistock, in Essex, and Navesby, in Northamptonshire, we seem to
have a name like that of Hnsef, which we find in the Traveller's Tale. At
Ripley, in Yorkshire, we have a founder Hryp, and there are also local
names which have been supposed to refer to the semi-historic personages
who were called Air, Beonset, Beowa, Brada, Cynfar, Fear, Hlyd, Hraefii,
Hungar, Naegel, Pendere, Sumser, &c — See Haigh, Conquest, pp. 150 — 160.
• Beda, Hist, Ecc, book i. cap. 20; Haigh, Conqtust, p. 238; St. John,
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3 14 Historic Sites.
The CARADOC, the most picturesque of the Shropshire
hills, is crowned by an earthwork bearing the name of
Caer Cafadoc, and here, as tradition affirms, was the
stronghold of Caractacus.^
A camp near Verulamium, called OISTER HILLS, has
been supposed to bear the name of the Roman general
Ostorius,^ and we have a CiESAR's CAMP near Famham,
and a Vespasian's camp in Wiltshire.
Chilham in Kent was anciently called 7«/ham, and
is supposed to be the site of the battle fought by Julius
Caesar, in which Laberius was slain. This supposition is
curiously corroborated by a tradition which calls a large
tumulus in the neighbourhood by the name of JU LASER'S
GRAVE.^
According to the Chronicles, it fell to the lot of
Catigern, a Kentish chieftain, to oppose the earliest
invasion of the Saxons. We are told that he fought a
battle with the forces of Hengist and Horsa, in the
neighbourhood ojf Aylesford. On the summit of the
downs which overlook the battle-field, there is a Celtic
tomb, constructed of vast Vertical and horizontal slabs of
sandstone. This, the. mpst remarkable megalithic erec-
tion in the south-eastern portion of the kingdom, goes
by the name of KITS COTY HOUSE, and may not impro-
bably bear the name of the British prince.*
Four Conquests of England, vol. L p. $6; Recs, Welsh Sam/s, pp.
121, 122. '
^ The real name of Caractacas was probably Cradock, which is sttD a
common surname in the West of England.
• Cough's Camden, vol. ii. pp. 63, 73; Hartshome, Salopia AnHqua^
p. 153.
' Cough's Camden, vol. i. pp. 313, 353.
* Lappenberg, Anglo-Saxon Kings, vol. i. p. 73 ; Gongh's Camden, voL i.
PP.3"»336.
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British Chief s. 315
We also read that the body of Ambrosius, the successor
of Vortigem, was buried, according to his dying request,
at AMBRESBURY on Salisbury Plain.i
In the year 945 the British population of Cumbria,
under a chief who bore the name of Donald, made a
final and unsuccessful attempt to shake off the Saxon
yoke. A cairn at the summit of the desolate pass which
leads from Keswick to Ambleside is called DUNMAIL-
RAISE, and in all probability it marks the precise scene
of the struggle with Eadmund, as well as the burial-
place of the British leader.*
In Stratheam there is a barrow which goes by the
name of CARN-CHAINICHIN, that is, the Cairn of Ken-
neth. This name no doubt preserves the memory of the
burial-place of Kenneth IV. of Scotland, who in the year
1003 was slain by Malcolm II. in a battle which was un-
doubtedly fought in the near neighbourhood of the cairn.'
An entrenchment on Barra Hill in Aberdeenshire
bears the name of CUMMIN'S CAMP, and thus preserves
the memory of the defeat of Comyn, Earl of Buchan, by
Robert Bruce;* while DALRY, the "kings field," is the
spot where John of Lorn defeated Bruce, and from
whence he tracked him with blood-hounds, as is so
inimitably told in the " Tales of a Grandfather." *
The names of GIBRALTAR and TARIFA have already
been noticed.* valetta, the port and chief town of
1 Haigh, Conquest of Britain^ p. 264. There is a large camp in Epping
Forest called Ambresbury Banks.
* Palgrave, Engiish Commonwealth^ vol. 1. p. 442 ; Fe]*giison, Northmen
in Cumberland^ pp. 15, 57.
' Chalmers, CaUdoniay voL i p. 397.
* Ibid. vol. L p. 90.
* Skene, History of the Highlanders^ vol. ii. p. 109.
* See p. 104, supra^
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3 1 6 Historic Sites.
Malta, preserves the name of John Parisol de la Vallefte,
the heroic Grand Master of the Knights of St John*
Together with the suburb of VITTORIOSA it was founded
in the year 1566, at the close of the memorable siege in
which some 500 knights, assisted by 9,000 men at arms,
successfully withstood for four months the assaults of an
army of 30,000 Turks, until at last there survived only
600 of the Christians, utterly worn out by the toils and
perils of the siege,^
The rulers of the ancient world seem to have anxiously
desired to stamp their names upon cities of their own
creation. Of the fifteen cities upon which Alexander the
Great bestowed his name, only six retain it, and only
two still possess any geographical importance. The
name of Alexandria in Egypt has been corrupted into
the Arabic form of ISCANDERIEH, and Alexandria in
Bokhara is now SAMERCAND. The city of Alexandria
which was built near the battle-field of Issus, though
now a miserable village, has given a name to the Bay of
SCANDEROON or ISKENDEROON. ALEXANDRETTA and
CANDAHAR Still maintain an obscure existence.*
Antiochus and Seleucus, and the princes of their
dynasties, followed the example of their great captain,
but while the once important name of SELEUCIA* has
^ Porter, Knights of Malta, vol. iL pp. 70 — 166. One of the gates of
Valetta is called the Port des Bombea, from its bearing the marks of the
cannonade which took place when the French were attacked by the English
and Maltese.
' ALESSANDRIA, an important fortress in Piedmont, takes its name from
a Roman Pope. Several places in Russia and Siberia are called alxxan-
DROV and Alexandria, from the Russian Emperor. See Yonge, Christian
Nanus^ voL L p. 200.
* There were seven cities called Seleucia. The only one that retains the
name is Seleucia in Cilicia, now Selefkieh.
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AlexamUr — Casar — Augustus. 317
vanished from the map, Antioch,i now ANTAKIEH, still
ranks among the cities of the East.
Philippi, now FELIBEDJIK, built by the father of Alex-
ander, would be now forgotten were it not for the epistle
addressed by St. Paul to its inhabitants; and the
mention of PHILADELPHIA in the Apocalypse still causes
us to bear in mind that it was built by Attalus Phila-
delphus, king of Pergamus.
The names of the Roman Emperors are scattered
over Europe, and some of them are found under very
curious phonetic disguises. Who would expect, for in-
stance, to find the name of Caesar in JERSEY, a name
which nevertheless is probably a corruption of Csesarea.^*
In the East the phonetic changes have been less; the
Oesareas in Palestine and Cilicia are now called KAIS-
ARIYEH ; and KESRI, on the Dardanelles, is probably a
corruption of the same name. The city of Caesarea Jol,
built by Juba in honour of Augustus, is now ZERSHELL
in Algeria.' Two of the most curious of these transmu-
tations are Caesarea Augusta into zaragossa, and Pax
Augusta into BADAJOZ. Augusta Emerita has been
clipped down into MERIDA. Augustodunum is now
AUTUN, and Augusta is aosta and AUGIA. We find
the same Imperial name preserved in AUGSBURG, AUGST
in Canton BAle and Canton Zurich,* AOUST in the
1 There were ten cities called Antiochia.
a The names of guernsey and Cherbourg are possibly to be traced to
a similar origin, as well as Jerbourg in Guernsey ; though it is more pro-
bable that the first is Norse, and that the root of the two latter is the Celtic
word CVmt. Latham, Channel Isles, pp. 429, 452 5 Notes and Queries,
second series, vol vl p. 163.
• Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, a. v. Jol ; Quarterly
Review, xcix. p. 341.
^ Meyer doubts this. See Ortsnamen des JC, Zurich^ p. 76.
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3 1 9 Historic Sites]
department of the Dr6me, AUCH near Toulouse, and
the AUST passage over the Severn.
The names of Julius and Julia we have in LOUDON
(Juliodunum), BEJA in Portugal (Pax Julia), TRUXILLO
in Spain (Turris Julia, or Castra Julia), JOLICH or
JULIERS (Juliacum), the valley of ZSIL (Julia) in Hun-
gary, pronounced Jil, ZUGLIO (Julium), ITUCCI, (Victus
Julius), and LILLEBONNE (Julia bona); while FRIULI,
FORLI, and FREJUS are all corruptions of Forum Julii.
ORLEANS, VALENCIENNES, GRENOBLE, and ADRIANOPLE,
bear the names of the Emperors Aurelian, Valentinian,
Gratian, and Hadrian, by whom they were respectively
founded or rebuilt Forum Aurelii is now FIORA, Aurelia
is ORLEANS,^ Claudii Forum is KLAGENFURT, and PAM-
PELUNA and LODI (Laus Pompeii) bear the name of
Pompey. TIBERIAS, in Palestine, was built by the
younger Herod (Antipas) in honour of his imperial
friend and master. Constantius Chlorus gave his name
to CONSTANCE or CONSTANTZ on the Boden See, and to
COUTANCES (Constantia) in Normandy, where Roman
antiquities are still occasionally found. The surrounding
district, now called the C6TANTIN, exhibits very curiously
a parallel but independent corruption of the name Con-
stantinum. KUSTENDJE is the Turkish corruption of
Constantiana. CONSTANTINEH is the strongest place
In Algeria. Constantine, the son of Constantius, had a
palace a few miles from Treves, at a place fiow called
CONZ, a name which, after a long eclipse, is again becom-
ing audible among men, in the novel character of a great
railway junction. I could not but think, as I once
whiled away a tedious hour in the waiting-room at Conz,
^ The form of the modem name suggests that the place must have onli-
narily been called Aureliana, rather than Aurelia.
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Emperors and Kings, 3 19
of the waiting-rooms on the same spot once thronged by
the nobles of Western Europe, worshipping the rising
sun, who was afterwards to imprint his name on CON-
STANTINOPLE, the new capital of the Roman world.
Of the modem cities which are thus inscribed with
the dates of their foundation, ST. PETERSBURG and
VICTORIA, the capitals of two distant empires, occur at
once to the memory. EKATERINENBURG was founded
by the great Empress Catherine. CHRISTIANA, CHRis-
TIANSTAD, and CHRISTIANSAND, are memorials of the
subjection of Norway and Sweden to the crown of
Denmark in the seventeenth century, during the reign
of Christian IV. of Denmark. The little kinglets of
Germany, otherwise unknown to fame, have not been
slow in endeavouring to rescue their obscure names
from oblivion by a geographical immortality of this
kind. As we fly past upon the railway the names of
CARLSRUHE, FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, LUDWIGSHAFEN, LUD-
WIGSBURG, or WILHELMSBAD may, perhaps, induce the
traveller to endeavour to learn from his open Murray
the deeds of the monarchs who have thus eagerly striven
after fame.
A far more inconvenient practice prevails in the
United States, where the names of popular Presidents
have been bestowed so liberally on towns and counties
as to occasion no little confusion. There are no less
than 169 places which bear the name of Washington, 86
that of Jefferson, 132 that of Jackson, while Munroe and
Harrison have respectively to be contented with 71 and
62 places named in their honour.^
^ See Notes and Queries^ second series, voL i. p. 508.
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320 Sacred Sites.
CHAPTER XIII.
SACRED SITES.
Local Vestiges of Saxon Heathendom — ThOj Frea, Woden^ Thor, Balder —
Cettk Deities— Teutonic Demigods— Wayland Smith—Old Scratch— Old
Nick — The Nightmare — Sacred groves and temples — Vestiges of Sclat>onic
Heathendom — The Classic Pantheon— Conversion of the Northern Nations
•^Paulinus at Goodmanham—^* Uan " and ** Kit''— The Hermits of the
Hebrides — Tlie Local Saints of Wales — Places of Pilgrimage — 7^ Monastic
Houses,
Day after day, as the weeks run round, we have obtruded
upon our notice the names of the deities who were
worshipped by our pagan forefathers. This heathenism
is indeed so deeply ingrained into our speech, that we
are accustomed daily, without a thought, to pronounce
the sacred names of Tiw, Woden, Thunor, Frea, and
Saetere.^ These names are so familiar to us, that we
are apt to forget how little is really known of the mytho-
logy of those heathen times. We have, it is true,
Beowulf and the Traveller's Song, the verse Edda, and
other parallel Norse and Teutonic legends, but the
Anglo-Saxon literature dates only from the Christian
period, and proceeds mostly from the pens of Church-
^ On the names of the days of the week, see Mone, Gesch, Heidentkums,
vol. ii. p. 1 10; Turner, Anglo-Saxons, vol. ii. p. 217; Trench, Stuffy of
Words, p. 93 ; MUller, Alt-deut, Relig, pp. 86—88 ; Mannhardt, Giftter-
wdt^ vol. i. p. 262.
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The A nglo- Saxon Deities, 321
men, who naturally preferred to recount thaumaturgic
histories of Christian saints, and willingly allowed the
pagan legends to die away out of the memories of men.
So small, in fact, are the materials at pur disposal for an
account of the Anglo-Saxon Pantheon, that the very
name of Saetere is conjectural — it is not found in any
literary document till long after the extinction of the
Anglo-Saxon paganism — and it would almost appear
that the name, the attributes, and the culte of this deity
have been constructed in comparatively recent times, in
order to illustrate the assumed etymolc^^ of the word
Saturday.^ Our knowledge of Anglo-Saxon mythology
being thus scanty, it will bear to be supplemented by
the information which may be derived from local names.
We may, in the first place, arrive at some vague
estimate of the relative mythological importance of the
various Anglo-Saxon deities by means of a comparison
of the number of places which severally bear their names,
and which were probably dedicated to their worship.
Judging by this standard, we conclude that Tiw,^ Frea,
1 That the worship of Saetere was very local, appears also from the fact
that Saturday, as a name for the last day of the week, is found only in the
Frisian, Anglo-Saxon, and other Low-German languages. Laugardagr^
the Norse equivalent for . Saturday, the Swedish Lordag^ and the Danish
and Norwegian Loversdag, mean the washing-day, or laving-day ; if,
indeed, they do not refer to the Scandinavian deity Loki. See Grimm,
Deutsche Mythologii, pp. 115, 226 ; Kemble, Saxons^ vol. i. p. 372; Yonge,
ChrUtian Names^ voL L p. 439 ; Donaldson, English Ethnography^ p. 67.
« This word was used as the name of the Deity by all the Aryan nations.
The Sanskrit dhfa^ the Greek M^ the Latin detis^ the Lithuanian dhvas^
the Erse dia^ and the Welsh dew are all identical in meaning. The etymo-
logy of the word seems to point to the corruption of a pure monotheistic
£aith« The Sanskrit word dydtts means the expanse of blue sky, the
heaven. This sense is retained in the Latin word dies^ and in the phrase
sub ycvefVaatit. open air. (Horace, Odes^ lib. L i. 25.) Jupiter, Diupiter,
or Diespiter, is the "heavenly father." See Pictet, Orig, Indo-Eur. part ii.
pp. 653, 663, 664 ; Bunsen, Philos, of Universal History^ vol. L p. 78 ;
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322 Sacred Sites,
and Saetere, had but a small hold on the religious
affections of the people, for TEWESLEY in Surrey, Great
TEW and TEW DUNSE in Oxfordshire, TEWIN in Hert-
fordshire, DEWERSTONE^ in Devon, frathorpe and
FRIDAYTHORPE 2 in Yorkshire, FRAISTHORPE in Holder-
ness, FREASLEY^ in Warwickshire, three FRIDAYSTREETS
in Surrey, and one in Suffolk, SATTERLEIGH in Devon,
and SATTERTHWAITE in Lancashire, seem to be the
only places which bear their names.
But of the prevalence of the worship of Woden and
Thunor, we have wide-spread evidence. WEDNESBURY
in Staffordshire, WISBOROW Hill in Essex, WANBOROUGH
in Surrey, WANBOROUGH in Wilts, two WARNBOROUGHS
in Hampshire, WOODNESBOROUGH in Kent * and Wilts,
and WEMBURY in Devon, are all corruptions of the
Anglo-Saxon word Wodnesbeorh^ a name which indicates
the existence of a mound or other similar erection dedi-
cated to Woden.* WANSTROW in Somerset was formerly
Edinburgh RevieWy vol. xdv. pp. 334 — 338 ; Mannhardt, Cotterwdt^ voL
i. pp. 57, 69 ; Buttmann, Mythologus, voL ii. p. 74 ; MiQler, Ali-dcut. JRdig,
pp. 223, 225 ; Kelly, Curiosities^ p. 29 ; Max MUller, Lectures, second
series, p. 425.
1 In Saxe Weimar we have Tisdorf and Zeisberg ; in Hesse, Diensbexg
and Zierenberg ; in Bavaria, Zierberg ; in Zeeland, Tisvelae ; in JuUand,
Tystathe and Tiislunde ; in Sweden, Tistad, Tisby, Tisjo, and Tyred.
Grimm, Deutsche Mythol, p. 180 ; Miiller, Alt-deut. Rdigion^ p. 87 ;
Vilmar, Ortsnamen, p. 244 ; Knobel, Volkertafel^ p. 41 ; Mannhardt,
Gotterwelt, vol. i. p. 262.
• An elaborate account of Frekkenhorst, a chief German seat of the
worship of Frigge, or Frea, is given by Massmann, in Dorow*s DenkmaUr^
pp. 199 — ^203. We have also Frekeleve near Magdeburg, Freyenwald ou
the Oder, and Freyenburg in Belgium. MUller, Alt-deut, Rd. p. 121 ;
Salverte, Essai sur les Notnsy vol. ii. p. 238.
8 Fraisthorpe and Freasley are more probably Frisian settlements.
* Close to Woodnesborough is a tumulus called Winsborough.
8 Kemble, Saxons^ vol. i. p. 344 ; Haigh, Conquest of Britain^ p. 141 ;
^Ionis, Local Names^ p. 8 ; Guest, in Archecolog. Joumaly voL xvL p. 107.
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Local Vestiges of Saxon Heathendom, 323.
Wodnestreow, and WAKSDIKE in Wiltshire was Wodnes*
die. WODEN HILL on Bagshot Heath, WONSTON in
Hampshire, WAMBROOK in Dorset, WEDNESHOUGH in
Lancashire, WAMPOOL in Cumberland, WANSFORD in
Northamptonshire, and another place of the same name
in the East Riding, WANSTEAD in Essex, WAMDEN in
Bucks, WADLEY in Berks, two WANSLEYS and WEDNES-
FIELD in Staffordshire, WENDON in Essex and in Somer-
set, WEDESLEY in Derbyshire, WEDNESHAM in Cheshire,
WANTHWAITE in Cumberland, and WONERSH in Surrey,
with other more doubtful names of the same class,
enable us to form some estimate of how wide was the
diffusion of Woden's worship.^
The Scandinavian Thor was worshipped by the Anglo-
Saxons under the name of Thunor, a name identical with
the English thunder and the German equivalent 2)onnf r.*
^ In Germany we have Godesberg, near Bonn, anciently Wodenesberg ;
Gudensberg, in Hesse, anciently Wuodenesbexg, as well as another Gudens-
bctg, and a Gudenberg ; also Godensholt, anciently Wodensholt, in Olden-
burg ; Woensdrecht, near Antwerp, and Vaudemont, in Lorraine, anciently
Wodani Mons. In Denmark we find Odensbeig; Onsbeig, anciently
Otheosbeig ; Onsjo, anciently Othansharet ; Onsala, anciently Othansftle ;
Onaley, anciently Othanslef ; Odinsey, on the island of Funen ; and in
Norway, Onso, anciently Odinsey. Grimm, Deut. Myth, pp. 133, 140, 144 ;
Vilmar, Ortsnatrun^ p. 244 ; Bender, Detttscken Ortsnamen, pp. 107, io8 ;
Mone, Gesch, Heidenthums^ voL i. p. 269; vol. ii. p. 154. On the occur-
rence of the names of Woden and Thunor in the Saxon Charters, see
Kemble, Codex Dip, voL liL p. xiiL
* The identity of Thunor and Indra has been proved by Mannhardt, by
a laborious comparison of the Teutonic and Indian myths. Germ. Mytheit^
pp. I — 242. The names also of Indra and Donnor, different as they may
seem, are, no doubt, ultimately identical. We have seen (p. 207, supra)
that udra and %tdan are related Sanskrit words, meaning water. The first
gives us the name of Indra, the second that of Donnor or Thunor, both of
whom are the storm and rain gods ; both were bom out of the water, both
fin the rivers, and pour the milk of the doud-cows of heaven upon the
earth. See Mannhardt, Germ. Myth. pp. 3, 38, 50, 143, 147, 213, 216;
Y 2
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324 Sacred Sites.
We find traces of the worship of the Saxon god in the
names of THUNDERSFIELD in Surrey, two places called
THITNDERSLEIGH in Essex, and one in Hants, as well as
THUNDRIDGE in Herts, and THUNDERHILL in Surrey.^
To the name of Thor ive may assign THURSLEY in
Surrey, THURLEIGH in Bedfordshire,^ KIRBY THORE in
Westmoreland, THURSCROSS in Yorkshire, THURSTON
in Suffolk, THURSTABLE and THURLOW in Essex, THURS-
FIELD in Staffordshire, THURSFORD in Norfolk, TURS-
DALE in Durham, THURSHELTON in Devon, THURSBY
in Cumberland, THURSO in Caithness, TORNESS in
Shetland, and THORIGNY in Normandy, all of which,
as we have seen, are in regions settled more or less by
Scandinavian colonists." In some of these cases it is
probable that the name may have been derived from
some Viking who bore the name of Thor* The Anglo-
Saxon names, however, are not liable to this ambiguitj%
Mannhardt, GoUerwdt^ voL i. p. 61 ; Max Miiller, Lectures, second seiies,
p. 430.
^ The little scholars who enjoy catching a great scholar tripping, may
amuse themselves with Mr. Kemble*s attempt to find an allusion to the
Thunderer's Hammer, in the Hammer ponds in Surrey ; the iaxX bdug,
that the name originated frum some ironworks now disused
> There is a remarkable tumulus in the middle of the village called Buy
Hill.
9 On the continent we find Thtmeresberg, in Westphalia, where stands
a sacred oak, under which, to this day, an annual festival is held ; Doo-
nersbeig, near Worms, anciently Thoneresberg ; Donnerkaute and Don-
nersgraben in Hesse ; Donnersreut in Franconia ; Donnerbiihel in Berne ;
Donnersted in Brunswick ; Donershauk in Thuringia ; Thorsborg in
Gothland ; Donnerschwee, anciently Donerswe i^e, holyX in Oldenburg ;
Donnersbach in Styria ; Torslunde»(/»;f</r, a sacred groveX and Thorsbro
in Denmark ; and Th6isbidrg, Th6rBhofh, and others, in Norway. Grimm,
Deutsche Mytkol. pp. 64, 155, 169; Grimm, Namen Donners; Vilmar,
Ortsnamen, p. 244 ; Mannhardt, Germanische Mythefty p. 235.
4 In the case of several villages called Thursby this is the more probable
supposition.
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Celtic Deities, 325
since it does not appear that any Anglo-Saxon — more
timid, or more reverent than the Northman — ever dared
to assume the name of the dreaded Thunor.
Names like BALDERBY or BALDERTON, may probably
be derived from the personal name Balder, rather than
from that of the deity. Pol, another form of the name
of the god Balder, is probably to be found in such
names as POLBROOK, polstead, polsden and polsdon,
as well perhaps as in BELL HILL, and HILL BELL. The
last two names, however, are, more probably, vestiges of
a still earlier cultus — Celtic, or possibly Semitic.^ It
has been thought that there must have been some
original connexion, etymologic or mythologic, between
the Syrian Baal, the Celtic Bel or Belen, the Sclavonic
Biel-bog, and the Teutonic PoL To the Celtic deity we
may probably assign the local names of BELAN, near
Trefeglwys in Montgomeryshire, BELAN near Newtown,
two BELAN BANKS in Shropshire, and the BAAL HILLS
in Yorkshire, besides three mountains called BELCH
in the Vosges and the Black Forest.^ BALERIUM, the
ancient name of the Land's End, may possibly be due
to the Phoenicians. BEL TOR in Devon may be either
Teutonic, Celtic, or Semitic. Several of the Devonshire
Tors seem also to bear names derived from a primeval
mythology. MIS TOR and HAM TOR have been supposed
to bear Semitic names derived from Misor, the moon,
* Grimm, Deutsche Mythol. pp. 208, 580; Leo, Vorlesungen^ vol. i.
p. 205; Thierry, Hist, Gaul<nSy vol. il p. 77, 78; Miiller, Alt-detUsche
Rd^ioHy pp. 253, 256 ; Ferguson, Northmen^ pp. 95, 98 ; Mone, Gesckichte
Hadenthums, vol. ii. p. 345 ; Barth, Druiden^ p. 69, The Beltane fires
are still kept up in the Isle of Man, and in Yorkshire. Train, Isle of Matty
▼oL L p. 328.
• Mone, Gesckichte Heidenthums^ vol. ii p. 337 j Barth, Druiden^ p. 86,
Cf. Piderit, Ortsnanun^ p. 300,
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326 Sacred Sites.
and Ham or Ammon. The name of hessary TOR can
with greater confidence be referred to the Celtic deity
Esus or Hesus,! mentioned by Lucan —
Teutates, horrensque fens altaribus Hesus,
£t Taranis Scythicse non mitior ara Dianse.'
The Celtic deity Taith referred to in these lines
under the name of Teutates, must not be confounded
with the Teutonic Tiw, though the names are probably
not unconnected. Places called TOT HILL, TOOT HILL,
or TOOTER HILL, are very numerous, and may possibly
have been seats of Celtic worship.^
The word Easter, as we learn from Beda, is derived
from the name of Eostre,* or OstSra, the Anglo-Saxon
goddess of Spring, to whom the month of April was
sacred. As in other instances the Catholic clergy seem
to have given the heathen festival a Christian import,
and to have placed " Our Lady " on the throne pre-
viously occupied by the virgin goddess of the spring.*
She seems to have bestowed her name on two parishes
in Essex which are called GOOD EASTER,* and HIGH
■ ^ Cf. the Sanskrit Asura, the supreme, self-existent Spirit, a name pn>*
bably derived from a root flj=esse. A statue inscribed with the name of
Esus was exhumed at Paris. Pictet, Orig'. Indo-Eur, part ii. p. 655 ;
Barth, Druidenj p. 71 ; Prichard, Researches^ voL iiL p. 185 ; Thieny.
HisL Gaulois^ vol. ii. p. 78.
* JPharsaliay book i. L 445.
* See Davies, in Philolog, Thins, for 1855, p. 219 ; Barth, Druiden^ p. 64 ;
Thierry, Hist, Gaulois^ vol. ii. p. 78 ; Prichard, Researches^ voL iii. p. 185.
4 Cf. the Sanskrit ushas^hxaoxv^ from a root ushy to bum or glow.
Hence the Greek y^a^s, the Latin auster, the south, and the English mst,
Grimm, Deut, Mythol, p. 266 ; Neus, in Zeitschrift fur Deui, Myth, voL
iii. pp. 356 — 368 ; Pictet, Ortg, Indo-Eur. part ii. pp. 672 — 674 ; Leo,
Rectitudines^ p. 206.
* Mayhew, German Ufe^ voL ii. pp. 332, 377.
^ In Domesday this name appears in the form ESTRA. good easter is
probably the god Eostre.
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Teutonic Demigods. 327
EASTER; we find also the xnore doubtful names of
EASTERFORD in the same county, EASTERLEAKE in
Nottinghamshire, and EASTERMEAR in Hampshire.
The name of Hel, the mistress of the gloomy under-
world, seems to be confined to Yorkshire ; it may
possibly be preserved in the names of HELLIFIELD, HEL-
LATHYRNE, .hel with, two HEALEYS, HEAUGH, and
HELAGH, all in Yorkshire.^ HELWELL in Devonshire
is probably only the covered well, the word hell origin-
ally meaning only the " covered " place. Thus a wound
heals when it becomes covered with skin. The heel is
that part of the foot which is covered by the leg. A
helmet covers the head. The hull is the covered part of
a ship. To hele potatoes is to clamp or tump them.
In Kent to heal a child is to cover it up in its cradle,
and to Ileal a house is to put on the roof or covering.
A hellier is a slater.
Of the mythic heroes of Scandinavian legend, the
name of Weland, the Northern Vulcan, who fabricates
the arms of the heroes of the early Sagas, is preserved
at a place in Berkshire called WAYLANDSMITH. Here,
appropriately placed at the foot of that sacred HILL OF
THE WHITE HORSE, which from immemorial times has
borne the colossal symbol of Saxon conquest, there still
stands the structure which our ancestors called Weland*s
forge,^ a huge megalithic monument, consisting of two
chambers constructed of upright stones and roofed with
large slabs. Here the hero-smith was supposed to fabri-
cate shoes for the sacred horse. Though bearing a
1 We have Helgiaben, Helwald, Helleberg, and other similar names in
Germany. Panzer, DeuL Myth. p. 275.
* In the charters the place is called Wdanda Smidde^ Wayland^s Forge.
Codex Ditlatn, No. 1172.
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328 Sacred Sites,
Saxon name, and connected with a Saxon legend, it is
doubtless only a Celtic grave.^
The name of Eigil, the hero-archer, is probably to be
sought at AYLESBURY, formerly ^gksbyrig, as well
perhaps as at AYLESFORD, aysworth, and aylstone.*
ASGARDBY and AYSGARTH, however, probably refer to
Asgard, the home of the gods.
Curious legends often linger round the numerous
places called the Devil's Dyke, the Devil's Punchbowl,
and the like,* and results, not without value, might
doubtless be obtained by a comparative analysis of the
names of the various celebrated witch mountains.*
A dark and rugged rock in the Lake District bears
the name of SCRATCH MEAL SCAR. Here we may perhaps
detect the names of two personages who figure in the
Norse mythology, Skratti, a demon, and Mella, a weird
^ Grimm, Deutsche MythoU p. 350 ; WilBon, Pre-hist Annals of Scot-
iandy p. 210 ; Scott, Kenilworth, chap. xiii. and note ; Singer, Wayland
Smithf p. XXXV. ; Wright, in JoumcU of Archaolog, Association^ voL xvi.
pp. 50—58 ; Kemble, Saxons in England^ vol. i. pp. 419—421 ; Grimm,
Neidensage, pp. 41, 322, 323 ; Gough's Camden, vol. i. p. 221.
* Grimm, Deutsche MytkoL p. 349 ; Kemble, Saxons, vol. i. p. 422.
' We find Teufelstein near Durkheim, Teufelsbeig in Bavaria, and Ten-
felsmaner in Austria. See Panzer, Deut, Myth, pp. 46, 100, 204 ; Piderit,
Ortsnamen, p. 301. There are also many places called Drachenfels,
Drachenbogen, Drachenkammer, &c Panzer, Deut. Myth, p. 293; Grimm,
HeldensagCy p. 316. "^
The chief of these are the Blocksberg, or Brocken, in the Haitz;
several Blocksbergs in Mecklenburg ; the Huiberg near Halberstadt; the
Horselberg in Thuringia ; the Bechelsberg in Hesse ; the Koterberg and
the Weckingstein in Westphalia ; the Kandel, the Heuberg, and the
Staffelstein in the Black Forest ; the Bischenberg and the Biichelberg in
Alsace ; the Bl&kuUa (Black Mountain) in Sweden ; and the BlaakoUe in
Norway. See Thorpe, Northern Mythology^ voL L p. 243 ; Grimm, Dent.
Myth, p. 1004. Hanenkamm and Hanenbuck in Bavaria were places of
heathen worship. Mone, Gesch, Heid, vol. ii. p. 218. Heidenbeig is the
name of a hill near Zurich, down which on winter nights a headless horse*
man is seen to ride. Meyer, Ortsnamen, p. 165.
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Old Scratch— Old Nick 329
giantess.1 There is also a SCRATTA WOOD on the borders
of Derbyshire. The demon Skratti still survives in the
superstitions of Northern Europe. The Skratt of Sweden,
with a wild horse-laugh, is believed to mock travellers
who are lost upon the waste, and sundry haunted rocks
on the coast of Norway still go by the name of
"SKRATTASKAR."2 In the north of England the name
of Skratti continues to be heard in the mouths of the
peasantry, and the memory of " Old Scratch," as he
is/amiliarly called, may probably be yet destined to
survive through many future Christian centuries, in com-
pany with " Old Nick," who is none other than Nikr,' the
dangerous water-demon of Scandinavian legend. This
dreaded monster, as the Norwegian peasant will gravely
assure you, demands every year a human victim, and
carries off children who stray too near his abode beneath
the waters. In Iceland also, Nykr, the water-horse, is
still believed to inhabit some of the lonely tarns
scattered over the savage region of desolation which
occupies the central portion of the island.
^ Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 493 ; Ferguson, Northmen^ p. 99 ;
Edinburgh Review, vol. cxi. p. 386. Mella, when tired of the company of
Skratti, had a separate abode on mcll fell ; unless, indeed, this name
be Celtic rather than Scandinavian, and allied to the word tnullf a head-
land, which we have in the Mull of Cantyre and other names. Or the
name of Mell Fell may be from the Icelandic meiry a sandy hill. There is
a Mcelifell in Iceland.
« Grimm, Deut. Myth. p. 447 ; Thorpe, Northern Mythology, voL iL
P- 95 ; vol L p. 25a The name of Skratti is found also in the Sarmatian
l^ends. In Bohemian Screti means a demon. See Latham, English
Language, vol. i. p. 360.
» Norwegian n'ok, Swedish neck, German nix, plural nixen, English
nixies, and old Nick. The name of the River Neckar probably comes
from the same root. Thorpe, Northern Mythology, vol. i. p. 246 ; voL ii.
p. 20 ; Grimm, Deut, Myth. p. 456 ; Kcmble, Preface to Translation oj
Bebwulf, p. xvii. ;«Kemble, Saxons, vol. i. pp. 389 — 392 ; Laing, ffeims-
kringkLy vol. i. p. 92 ; Baring-Gould, Iceland, p. 149.
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330 Sacred Sites.
Many similar traces of the old mythology are to be
found in that well-stored antiquarian museum, the
English language. In the phrase ** Deuce take it,"
the deity Tiw still continues to be invoked.^ The
Bogie, with whose name nurses are wont to frighten
children, is probably Bogu, the Sclavonic name of the
Deity ,^ and the name of Puck has been referred to the
same source.* The nursery legend of " Jack and Jill '*
is found in the younger Edda, where the story of Hjuki
(the flow) and Bil (the ebb), the two children of the
Moon, IS seen to be merely an exoteric version of the
flowing and ebbing of the tides.* The morning gossamer
is the gott'Cymar^ the veil or trail left by the deity who
has passed over the meadows in the night The word
brag has an etymological connexion with the name of
Bragi,* the Norse god of song and mirth, while the
faithful devotees of Bragi fall after awhile under the
power of Mara,® a savage demon, who tortures men with
visions, and crushes them even to death, and who still
survives, though with mitigated powers, as the Night-
mare of modern days."^
^ Compare Augustine, De CivUate Dei, book xy. cap. 23, "quosdam
dsemones quos dusios GalU nuncupant"
> Sanskrit bhaga, god, the sun. Pictet, Orig. Indo-Europ. part ii.
p. 654; Edinburgh Review, vol. xciv. p. 332. See, however, Davies, in
Pkilolog. Proceed, vol. vi. p. 136 ; Notes and Queries, second series, voL xL
p. 97.
' » De Belloguet, Ethnog, vol. i. p. 222.
* Grimm, Deut. Myth. p. 679 ; Miiller, Alt-deut, Rdig. p. 161 ; Baring-
Gould, Iceland, p. 189.
» Diefenbach, Vergleich, Worterh, voL i p. 266 ; Grimm, Deut. Myth.
p. 215 ; Baring-Gould, Iceland, p. 161 ; Notes aftd Queries, second series,
vol. V. p. 32.
0 Thrupp, Anglo-Saxon Home, p. 263 ; Grimm, Deut. Myth, p. 215 ;
Kelly, Curiosities, p. 240 ; Laing, Heimskringla, voL L p. 92.
7 On the subject of the Teutonic and Scandinavian mythology, as iUus-
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Detice — Bogie — Brag-^Nightmare, 331
There is another class of names of sacred sites, those,
namely, which are not associated with the names of
particular deities.
The name of REDRUTH in Cornwall is written in old
deeds Dre-druith, the town of the Druids.^ From the
Celtic nemety a sacred grove, we may deduce the name
of NYMET ROWLAND in Devonshire, and of NISMES,
anciently Nemausus, in Provence, as well as many
ancient Gaulish names, such as Nemetacum or Neme-
tocenna (Arras), Vememetum, and Tascinemetum. *
LUND and LUNDGARTH, both in Holdemess, are pro-
bably from the Norse lundr, a sacred grove.* The name
of HOFF, near Appleby, seems to be from the Anglo-
Saxon and old Norse kof, a temple.* The vast inclosure
of SILBURY is probably the holy hill.* The names of
trated by local names, the reader may consult Jacob Grimm, Deutsche
Mythclogie, passim ; Buttmann, Die Deutschen Orisnamen^ pp. 162 — 169 ;
Kemble, Anglo-Saxons, vol. i. p. 243 — 422 ; Ferguson, Northmen in Cum-
berland, pp. 28, 95 ; Bender, Die Deutschen Ortsnamen, pp. 107, 108 ; Leo,
Anglo-Saxon Names, p. 5 ; Panzer, Deutsche Mythologie ; Forstemann,
Ortsnamen, p. 172 ; Worsaae, Danes and Norwegians, p. 69. A list of
mythologie names in the Tyrol is given in a paper by Zingerle, in the
Germania, vol. v. p. 108.
^ Prycc, Arch. Comu-Brit. s.v.
* Sanskrit nam, to worship, Greek viyuut, Irish nemhta, holy, Latin
nemus, a grove, Gaulish nemetum, a temp]|^ Brezonec nemet, a sacred
grove. Pictet, Orig. Indo-Europ, part ii. p. 691 ; Zeuss, Gram, Celt, vol. i.
p. 186 ; Astruc, Languedoc, p. 439 ; Davies, in Philolog, Trans, for 1857,
p. 91 ; Gliick, Kelt, Namen, p. 75 ; Adelung, Mithridates, voL iL p. 65 ;
Maury, Hist, des Forits, p. 160.
' LuNDEY Island in the Bristol channel, and lundholme near Lan-
caster may be finom this source, but more probably from the Norse lundi, a
puffin. There is an islet called lundey on the Icelandic coast. Baring-
Gonld, Iceland, p. 244.
4 There are two places called HOF in Iceland.
* Sdig, holy. See Poste, Brit, Res, p. 263. So Jerusalem is called by
the Arabs el kuds, the holy. Compare also the name of bethel, the
"house of God," with the Beit-allah of Mecca, and the Bsetulia of early
Phoenician worship. Behistun is the abode of the gods, from the Sans-
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332 Sacred Sites,
WYDALE, WIGTHORP, and WEIGHTON, as well as WEIH-
BOGEN in the Tyrol, WYBORG and WISBY, all of them
holy places, probably come from the Norse z//, a sacred
place.^
Heligoland — which means " holy island land " — ^has
been with great probability identified^ with the insula
oceani, which is described by Tacitus as the seat of
the secret rites of the Angli and other adjacent con-
tinental tribes. Of the numerous places bearing the
name of holywell, holy island, and holy hill,*
many were probably the sites of an ancient pagan
cultus, to which, in accordance with Gregory's well
weighed instructions, a Christian import was given by
Augustine and his brother missionaries.* The churches
of St. Martin and St. Pancras, at Canterbury, as well as
krit Bhaga, See Edin, Rev, voL xciv. p. 333 ; Stanley, Jewish Churchy
p. 59.
^ We have the^Gothic veihs, holy, and veUiatty to consecrate ; the old
High German vih, a sacred grove, or temple, the German weihnaelUy
Christmas, and the Anglo-Saxon wiccian, fascinare, whence the English
word witch, Pictet, Orig, IndthEurop. part ii. p. 643 ; Grimm, Deutsche
Mythol. p. 581 ; Yongc, Christian Names^ vol. ii. p. 238 ; Diefenbach, Ver*
gleich, Wdrterbuchf yoi. i. pp. 137, 138; Vion^ Geschichte Heidenthums^
vol. i. p. 269 ; Thaler, m the Zatschrift Jur Deut, Myth, vol. u p. 286 ;
Adelung, Mithridates^ pp. 144, 169.
* See Latham, Germania^ np. 145, 146 ; Eth, of Brit, Is, p. 155 ; Grimniy
Deutsche Myth. p. 211 ; Cri^ton, Scandinavia^ vol. L p. 75 ; and a paper
by Maack, in the Germania, vol. iv.
' Holy Hill is the highest point of ground in Kent Of. the nmnerons
Heiligenbrunns and Heilbrunns in Germany, to the waters of many of
which a supernatural efficacy was supposed to attach. The original
meaning of holy is healing. See Grimm, Deutsche Myth, p. 553 ; Pictet,
Orig, IndO'Europ. vol. ii. p. 647.
< Gregory, **diu cogitsins," came to the conclusion that "fana indo-
lorum destrui minime debeant," but that the idols should be destroyed,
and the temples, well sprinkled with holy water, should be supplied
with relics, so that the gens Anglorum '* ad loca quae consuevit familaritts
concurrat.*' Beda, Hist. Ecc, lib. i. c 30 ; Gregorii Magni Epistd, lib. xi«
ep. Ixxvi. J.Thorpe, Northern Mythology ^ voL i, p. 268.
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Vestiges of Sclavonic Heathenism, 333
Westminster Abbey and St. PauFs cathedral, were built
on the sites of heathen temples, and are instances of
this practice of enlisting, in favour of the new faith,
the local religious attachments of the people.^
It would demand more space than the interest of the
subject would warrant, to trace the local vestiges of the
worship of the Sclavonian deities. They have left their
names scattered far and wide over Eastern and Central
Europe — a testimony to the long duration and great
difficulty of the process by which the Sclavonic nations
were converted to Christianity. Thus the name of
Radegast, a god of light, is found at two places called
RADEGAST in Mecklenburg Schwerin, one of the same
name in Anhalt Dessau, and another in Oschatz; as
well as at RADEGOSZ in Posen, RADIHOSCHT in Bohemia,
the village of RODGES near Fulda in Hesse, anciently
written villa Radegastes^ and many villages bearing the
names of radibor, radeburg, radensdorf, and the
like.* We also find traces of the worship of Swjatowit,®
a deity with attributes similar to those of Radegast, of
Juthrbog * the god of spring, of Ciza* the goddess of fer-
tility, of Mita^ a malevolent cynoform deity, of Marsana^
1 See Rees, Welsh Saints^ p. xii. ; Dixon and Raine, Fasti Eboracenses^
p. 3 ; Stanley, Memorials of Canterbury^ p. 21 ; Pauli, Pictures of Old
England, p. 12.
* Buttmann, Deutscken Ortsnamen^ pp. 164, seq. ; Vilmar, Ortsnamen,
p. 246.
> At Zwettnitz in Bohemia, Schautewitz in Pomerania, and Zwitto in
Brandenburg. Buttmann, Ortsnamen, p. 162 ; Maclear, Ifist. of Christian
Missions, p. 33.
^ Hence Jiiterbogk, a large town near Berlin. Buttmann, Ortsnamen,
p. 168.
" Hence Zeitz, near Leipsig. Buttmann, Ortsnamen, p. 168.
< Hence Mitau in Courland.
7 Hence Marzahn near Berlin, Marzahna near Wittenbeig, and Marzana
in Illyria. Buttmann, Ortsnamen, p. 169.
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334 Sacred Sites.
the Sclavonic Ceres, and of Perun,^ a deity who cor-
responds to the Scandinavian Thon
The subject of names derived from the eastern and
classic mythologies is too extensive for discussion in
this place. It would require a chapter, or even a volume
to itself. There are many such places in India, Syria is
full of them, they abound in Italy and Greece. Thus
CALCUTTA and CALICUT are the Kali-Ghauts, the steps,
or landing-places by the river-side, where the great
festival of Kali was celebrated. BAALBEC was the chief
seat of the worship of Baal, the ruins of whose temple,
with its substructure of colossal stones, is still one of the
wonders of the world.^ Panium, now BAN IAS, was a
sanctuary of Pan.^ The shores of the Mediterranean
were covered with places bearing the names of the
deities of Greece and Rome. More than a dozen might
be enumerated taking their names from Neptune or
Poseidon, of which PAESTUM, the ancient Posidonia, is
the only one that still retains both its name and any
human interest. Hercules seems to have been deemed
the most powerful protector of colonies, for from him we
find that some thirty or forty places were named HERA-
CLEIA, HERACLEOPOLIS, or HERCULANEUM.* Twenty,
under the protection of Apollo, were called APOLLONIS
1 Grimm, Deut. Myth, p. 156.
^ In the Old Testament we find many traces of the Canaanitish wor-
ship still lingering in Palestine. For a long time, probably, the devo-
tions of the people were attracted by the old idolatrous sanctuaries, such
as Baal Gad, Baal Hermon, Baal Tamar, Baal Hazor, Baal Jndah, Baal
Meon, Baal Perazim, and Baal Shalisha. In the genealogies of fiuniHes
we find evidence of the same lingering superstitions. Thus in the
family of Saul we find persons bearing the names of Baal, Eshbaal, and
Meribaal. Stanley, Jewish Church, p. 291.
8 Robinson, Biblical Researches, vol. iii. p. 348.
4 MoNTERCHi, in Umbria, is Mons Herculis.
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Conversion of the Nofthumbrians, 335
or APOLLONIA, and fifteen bore the name of Pallas
Athene, all of which, except Athens,^ have sunk into
obscurity.
It is pleasant to leave these dry bones of a dead
paganism, and turn to the names which speak to us of
the first propagation of Christianity in our native land.
One of the most striking scenes in the whole history of
missionary enterprise was enacted in the East Riding of
Yorkshire, at GOODMANHAM, or GODMUNDINGAHAM,'
a mile from WEIGHTON^ where, as the name implies,
stood a large heathen temple. Beda tells that the
Bishop Paulinus presented himself on this spot before
Edwin King of the Northumbrians, and urged eloquently
the claims of the new faith. Coifi, the pagan high-
priest, to the surprise of all, proclaimed aloud that the
old religion had neither power nor utility. "If," said
he, " the gods were of any worth they would heap their
favour upon me, who have ever served them with such
zeal." The demolition of the temple was decreed, but
with a lingering belief in the ancient faith, all shrank
from incurring the possible hostility of the old deities,
by taking part in its destruction. " As an example to
all," said Coifi, "I am myself ready to destroy that
which I have worshipped in my folly." Arming himself
with spear and sword, he mounted on a horse, and
having profaned the temple by casting his lance against
it, it was set on fire and consumed.*
1 In this case the name of the city is probably the source from which the
cognomen of the goddess was derived.
« The home of the mund^ or protection of the gods, or from the
NoTsegiMiif a priest; hcfsgodiy a temple priest Grimm, Dmt. Myth. p. 78.
• The "sacred inclosure,*' see pp. 120, 332, svpra. The ruins of the
temple are to be seen near Goodmanham Church.
* Beda, HistEcc, lib. IL c. 13. Cf. Lappenbeig, Anglo-Sax, JCingSy vol. I
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336 Sacred Sites.
GODNEY near Glastonbury, GODMANCHESTER in
Huntingdonshire, GODMANSTONE in Dorset, GODLEY in
Cheshire, GODSTOW near Oxford, GODSHILL in the Isle
of Wight, and GODSTONE in Surrey, were probably, like
Godmundham, pagan sites consecrated to Christian
worship.
The prefix llan which, as we have seen,^ occurs so
frequently in Cornwall, Wales, and the border counties,
often enables us to detect the spots which were the first
to be dedicated to purposes of Christian worship.
The Cymric lian is replaced in Scotland and Ireland
by the analogous Gadhelic word kiL Originally this
denoted only a hermit's "cell," though it was after-
wards used to mean the "church," of which the hermit's
cell was so often the germ.
The numerous village-names which have this prefix
kil possess a peculiar interest. They often point out to
us the earliest local centers from which proceeded the
evangelization of the half-savage Celts ; they direct us
to the hallowed spots where the first hermit missionaries
established each his lonely cell, and thence spread around
him the blessings of Christianity and of civilization.
In Ireland alone there are no less than 1,400 local
names which contain this root, and there are very many
in Scotland also.^ In Wales and the neighbouring coun-
ties, a few names occur with the prefix kil instead of
llan. These names may probably be regarded as local
memorials of those Irish missionaries, who about the
p. 153; St. John, Four Conquests, voL i. p. no; Turner, Angh-Saxons^
vol. i. pp. 356 — ^360 ; Dixon and Raine, Fasti Eboracenses^ vol i. pp. 40^ 41 ;
Maclear, History of Missions, p. 1 14.
1 See p. 229, supra,
• E,g, Kilmore, Kilkenny, Killin, IcolmkilL
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The Hermit Missionaries. 337
fifth century resorted in considerable numbers to the
shores of Wales.^
It seems to have been by means of these Irish hermits
that the fierce Scandinavians who settled in the islands
off the Scottish coast were brought to submit to the
gentle influences of Christianity. The Norse name for
these anchorite fathers was Papar, Three islets among
the Hebrides,^ two in the Orkneys,* two in the Shet-
lands,* and others among the Faroes and off" the coast of
Iceland, bear the names of PABBA, or papa, the " Father's
isle." In the. Mainland of Orkney, and again in South
Ronaldshay, we find places called PAPLAYj^the "hermit's
abode," and at ENHALLOW, and at one of the PAPAS in
the Orkneys, the ancient cells are still preserved.^
In that part of England which was settled by the
Danes, the missionary efforts seem to- have been more
of a parochial character. We find the prefix kirk^ a
church, in the names of no less than sixty-eight places
in the Danelagh, while in the Saxon portion of England
we find it scarcely once.^ KIRBY means church-village,
and the Kirbys which are dotted over East Anglia and
Northumbria speak to us of the time when the possession
of a church by a village community was the exception,
1 We find Kilcwm, Kilsant, and Kilycon in Carmarthen ; Kilgarran and
Kilred in Pembrokeshire ; Kilkenin, Kiluellon, and Kilwy in Cardigan ;
Kilowen in Flint; Kilgwri in Cheshire-; Kilmersdon and Kilstock in
Somerset ; Kildare and Killow in Yorkshire ; and KUpisham in Rutland.
« Pabba off Skye, Pabba off Harris, and Pabba off Barra.
8 Papa Westray and Papa Stronsay.
4 Papa Stour and Papa Little.
9 There is a Papil in Unst, and a Pappadill in Rum.
• Wilson, Pre-historic AnnalSy p. 486; Dasent, Burnt Njal, vol. i. p. viii ;
Worsaae, Danes, p. 231.
7 It is found over the whole track of the Norsemen from Kirkwall in the
OrkneySy to Dunkerque in Flanders, and Querqueville in Normandy.
Z
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338 Sacred Sites,
and not, as is now happily the case, the rule. These
names point to a state of things somewhat similar to
that now prevailing in Australia or Canada, where often
but a single church and a single clergyman are to be
found in a district fifty miles in circumference.* Thus
we may regard these Kirbys distributed throughout the
Danelagh, as the sites of the mother churches, to which
the surrounding parishes, whose names contain no such
prefix, would bear a filial relationship.
Joined with the prefixes kil and llan we find not un-
frequently the name of the apostle of each wild valley
or rocky islet — the first Christian missionary who ven-
tured into the mountain fastnesses to tame their savage
denizens. From the village-names of Wales, Scotland,
and Ireland, it would be almost possible to compile a
Hagiology of these sainted men, who have been canon-
ized by locdl tradition, though their names are seldom
to be found in the pages of the Bollandists.
In a few of these cases, where the same name is
repeated again and again, we can only infer the fact of
the dedication of the church to some saint of widely
extended fame. Thus the repute of St Bridget has
given rise to no less than eighteen Kilbrides in Scotland
alone. At icolmkill, or Iona,« as well as at inchcolm,
COLONSAY, and KIRKCOLM, we find the name of St
Columba, the great apostle of the Picts, who is said to
have founded an hundred monasteries in Ireland and
Scotland. So the name of St. Ciarran, the apostle of
1 See Dixon and Raine, FatH EhoraceHset^ voL i. p. 27.
* lona, the chief monasteiy and seminary of North Britain, and the
burial-place of innumerable kings and saints, was originally bestowed oo
St Columba by one of the Pictish kings. Lappenbeig, AngioSaxom KirngSf
ToL L p. 132 ; Maclear, History 0/ Christian Missions^ pp. 84— 9a
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• Local Saints, 339
the Scoto-Irish, and the founder of a monastic rule, is
found at KILKIARAN in Islay, as well as at KILKERRAN
in Ayrshire and in Connemara. But a very large num-
ber of these saint-names are locally unique, and the
parishes which bear such names are almost always the
most ancient, their ecclesiastical position being that of
the mother parishes, affiliated to which are the churches
dedicated to saints in the Romish calendar.^ Hence
these village-names may fairly be adduced as evidence
in any attempt to localize the scene of the labours of
these primitive missionaries.^
Our space would fail were we to attempt such a
commemoration in this place ; it may suffice to indicate
the names of a few of the local saints who are associated
with some of the more familiar localities. Thus the
watering place of LLANDUDNO takes its name from St
Tudno, a holy hermit who took up his abode among
the rocks of the Orme's head, llanberis, now the
head-quarters of Welsh tourists, commemorates the
labours of St Peris, an apostolically-minded cardinal.*
In the case of beddgelert, the legend of the hound
Gelert, which Spencer has so gracefully inshrined in
verse, must give place to the claims of St. Celert, a
Welsh saint of the fifth century, to whom the church of
LLANGELLER is consecrated. LLANGOLLEN is so called
from St Collen, a man more fortunate, or unfortunate,
than the majority of his brethren, in that a Welsh
legend .of his life has come down to us, recounting the
deeds of valour which he performed when a soldier in
1 Rees, Wdsh Samtt, pp. 57, 59-
• Great use has been made of local names in the Lhet of the Cambro-
British Saints^ by the Rev. W. J. Rees, and m the Essay on tht Wdsh Saints^
by Professor Rice Rees, who enumerates 479 local saints.
» Rees, Wdsh Saints, p. 302.
Z 2
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340 Sacred Sites. *
the Roman armies ; how he became Abbot of Glaston-
bury, and finally retired to spend the remainder of his
days in a cave scooped out in that rugged wall of cliff
which bounds the lovely valley on which the saint has
bestowed his name.^
The name of MERTHYR TYDFIL commemorates the
spot where the heathen Saxons and Picts put to death
the martyr Tydfyl, daughter of the eponymic King
Brychan, who is asserted by Welsh legend to have
given his name to the county of Brecknock.*
St. David or St. Dewi was a Welsh prince, whose
preaching is compared to that of St. John the Baptist.
He lived on herbs, and clothed himself in the skins of
beasts. LLANDDEWI BREFI marks the spot where, at
a synod assembled for the purpose, he refuted Pelagius.
He was buried at his see of TY DDEWI, " the house of
David," a place which the Saxons call St Davids.' The
names of St. Asaph,* the apostle of North Wales, and of
St. Maughold or Macull, the apostle of the Isle of Man,
are to be found on the maps of the countries where they
laboured. A few more of these names are appended in
a note.*
1 See Borrow, Wild JVaIa,\ol. l p. 57; Rees, Welsh Saints, p. 302.
« Borrow, Wild Wales, voL iil p. 4II; Haigh, Conquest of Briiaim, ^
251 ; Rees, Camhro- British Saints, pp. 602—608; Rees, Welsh Saints, ip. 151.
» Alban Butler, Lives of the Saints, March I ; Lappenbei^, Angh-Saxon
Kings, vol. i. p. 133 ; Rees, Cambro- British Saints, pp. 402 — ^448 ; Rees,
Welsh Saints, pp. 43 — 56, 19 1 — 201.
^ Rees, Welsh Saints, p. 265.
B The names of are attributed to
LLANGATTOCK, Brecknock, and J
Monmouth V St Cadoc, a martyr.
CADOXTON, Glamorgan . . . . ;
LLANBADERN, Radnor, andCardigan St Padem, an Armorican bishop
who came to Wales.
[llangtbi«
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The Local Saints of Wales. 341
At KIRKCUDBRIGHT and elsewhere, we find the ftame
of St Cuthbert, a shepherd-bpy who became abbot of
Melrose, and the Thaumaturgus of Britain. St. Beya,
an Irish virgin, lived an ascetic life at ST. BEES, where
her shrine was long a great place of pilgrimage. We
find the name of St. Jia, another female saint, at ST.
IVES in Cornwall. There is another place called ST.
IVES, which takes its name, we are told, from St Ivon,^
LLANGYBi, near Caerleon . . • \ q. ^ v»
CAERGYBi, at Holyhead . , . • / ^'- ^y°*'
LLANiLLTYD. Glamorgan . . . | st Illtyd, an Armorican.
ILLSTON, Glamojgan )
CRANTOCK, Cardigan St Carannog.
LLANGADOG, Carmarthenshire . . St Gadoga, a British saint of the
fifth centuiy, who died in Brittany.
LLANIDLOES St Idloes.
WBry^N.toKe.^!"^ '. '. :i St Finian the leper, a royal saint
KiLBAR, in the Isle of barra . . St Bar.
ST. kenelm's well St Kenelm, a Mercian prince, mur-
dered in a wood by his aunt at the
age of seven.
killaloe St Lua.
perranzabuloe, or St Perran in \ St Piran, a bishop consecrated by
Sabulo, Cornwall, a church > St Patrick for a mission to Corn-
buried in the drifting sand . . ) wall.
PADSTOW, f>. Petrocstow, in Com- ) St Petroc, one of St Patrick's mis-
wall ) sionary bishops.
PENZANCE, />. Saint's Headland , St Anthony.
The legends of St Cadoc, St Padem, St Cybi, St Illtyd, and St
Carannog will be found at length in Rees, Cambro- British Saints^ pp. 309,
396, 465, 495, 502 ; and those of the others, in Alban Butler, Lives of the
Saints^ and Rees, Welsh Saints,
1 Cf. Gough*s Camden, vol. ii. p. 248. There is a third St Ivo, the
popular saint of Brittany. He was an honest lawyer, and hence he is repre-
sented as a black swan in certain mediaeval verses in his honour : —
" Sanctus Ivo erat Brito
Advocatus, sed non latro
Res miranda populo."
Jephson, Tour infirittany^ p. 81.
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342 Sacred Sites.
a Persian bishop ; but how his body reached Hunting-
donshire, where it was miraculously discovered by a
ploughman in the year looi, tradition sayeth not The
neighbouring town of ST. NEOTS bears the name of St.
Neot, who was a relative of King Alfred.^
St. MALO takes its name from St. Maclou, as the
chronicles call him. He appears to have been one of
those wandering evangelists^ of whom Ireland and
Scotland sent forth so many in the sixth century, and
we may perhaps conjecture that his real name was
McLeod, and that his cousin St Magloire was really a
McClure.* A more historical personage is St Gall (the
Gael), the most celebrated of the successors of St
Columba: — ^he occupied high station in France, and
founded in the uncleared forest the Scotch abbey of
ST. GALLEN, from which one of the Swiss cantons takes
its name.* Another Swiss canton, that of GLARUS,
belonged to a church founded by St Fridolin, an Irish
missionary, and dedicated to St Hilarius, a saint whose
name has been corrupted into Glarus.* ST, GOAR built
a hut beneath the dangerous Lurlei rock, at the spot
which bears his name, and devoted himself to the
succour of shipwrecked mariners.* St Brioc fled from
the Saxon invaders of Britain, and founded a monas-
tery at ST. BRIEUX in Brittany.^ The town of ST,
1 Turner, Saxons, vol. i. pp. 549—553-
* A catalogue of some of these Irish saints will be found in Alban Battery
Lives of the Saints, vol. xii. pp. 415 — 432.
' For an account of St Magloire see Ansted, Channel Islands, pi 324 ;
Rees, IVelsh Saints, p. 256.
4 Madear, History 0/ Missions, pp. I46--152; Lappenbei^ Angh-Sax»m
Kings, vol. i. p. 183,
* lAppenberg, Anglo-Saxon Kings, vol, i. p. 183.
* Maclear, If istory 0/ Christian Missions, p. 132.
' Jephson, Tour in Brittany, p. 31.
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Si Ives— St Mah—SU Cloud— St. Heliersl 343
OMER was the see of St Audomar, a Suabian favourite of
Dagobert, and ST. CLOUD was the scene of the retirement
of St. Hlodowald, one of the saints whose royal birth
facilitated their admission to the honours of the calendar.^
Legends more or less marvellous often attach to names
of this class.
The history of St Brynach, who gave his name to
LLANFRYNACH, is, to Say the least, somewhat remark-
able! We are gravely told how, for lack of a boat, he
sailed from Rome to Milford Haven mounted on a piece
of rock, and how among other proofs of supernatural
power he freed Fishguard from? the unclean spirits,
who by their bowlings had rendered the place uninha-
bitable.*
Sometimes we have legends of a totally different
class, as in the case of ST. HELIERS in Jersey. Here,
we are told, was the retreat of St. Helerius,^ who morti-
fied the flesh by standing on sharp stones with spikes
pointed against his shoulders, and others against his
breast, in order to prevent him from falling backwards
or forwards in his weariness.*
A far more picturesque legend is that which accounts
for the name of the castle of ST. angelo at Rome.
We are told that, in the time of Gregory the Great,
while a great plague was desolating Rome, the Pontiff,
1 SANTAR£M, SANTIAGO, and SANTANDER, In the Peninsola, take their
names respectively from St. Irene, a holy virgin, St James, and St. Andrew;
AUCHANGEL, in Russia, from St Michael ; marsaba, on the Dead Sea,
from the celebrated St Saba, hermit and abbot
s Rees, Cambro-BritUh Saints, pp. 2S9 — 298; Rees, Welsh Saints^
p. 156.
* Not to be confounded with St Hilarius, Bishop of Poitiers, or with
Hilarius, Bishop of Aries, to whom Waterland has assigned the authorship
of the Athanasian Creed.
4 Lfitham, Channel Islands, pp. 320—323.
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344 Sacred Sites.
walking in procession at the head of his monks, and
chaunting a solemn litany for the deliverance of the
city, saw, or thought he saw, St Michael, the destroying
angel, standing upon the very summit of the vast
mausoleum of Hadrian, in the act of sheathing his
avenging sword. The plague ceased, and thencefor-
ward, in memory of the miracle, the tower bore the
name of the castle of the angel, whose effigy, poised
upon its summit in eternal bronze, is pointed out as
a perpetual evidence of the truth of the legend.^
Where the reputed burial-places of celebrated saints
have become great places of pilgrimage, the name of
the saint has often superseded the original appellation.
Thus the reputed tomb of Lazarus has changed the
local name of Bethany to EL LAZARIEH; and Hebron,
the place of interment of Abraham, who was called the
friend of God, is now called by the Arabs EL KHALIL,
or " the friend." ^ ST. Edmund's bury in Suffolk was
the scene of the martyrdom of St. Edmund, king of the
East Angles. He was taken prisoner by Ingvar the
Viking, and having been bound to a tree, he was
scourged, and made a target for the arrows of the Danes,
and was finally beheaded.^ ST. OSYTH in Essex is said
to bear the name of a queen of the East Angles who
was beheaded by the Danes.* ST. ALBANS claims to be
^ Dean Milman has ruthlessly pronounced this picturesque legend to be
inconsistent with Gregory's own letters. History of Latin Christy ▼oL i.
p. 409.
• Stanley, Jrutish Churchy p. 488.
s Matthew of Westminster, Roger Wendover, and John of Brompton,
apud Lappenberg, Angto-Saxon Kings, vol. ii. p. 39 ; St John, Four Qm-^
guests, vol. i. p. 253 ; Sharon Turner, Saxons, vol. i. pp. 521 — 525.
^ Cough's Camden, vol. ii. pp. 124, 138. The name seems to be eponymic.
Osyth means *' water channel," and would correctly characterize the natural
features of the spot
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Places of Pilgrimage, 345
the scene of the sufferings of the protomartyr of Britain,
and the still more marvellous legend of Dionysius the
Areopagite finds a local habitation at ST. DENIS, the
burial-place of the kings of France. The name of
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELLA in Spain has been curi-
ously formed out of the Latin phrase Sancto Jacobo
Apostolo.^
Of the great monastic edifices of later ages, most of
which are now demolished wholly or in part, or devoted
to other purposes, we find traces in the names of AX-
MINSTER, LEOMINSTER, KIDDERMINSTER, WESTMINSTER,
WARMINSTER, BEDMINSTER, BEAMINSTER, STURMIN-
STER, UPMINSTER, and Others. Minster is the Anglo-
Saxon form of the Low Latin Monasterium, From the
same word come the names of several places called
MONSTIERS, MOUSTIERS, or MOUTIER in France and
Switzerland, and various MONASTIRS in Greece and
Thessaly. The bay of ABER BENIGUET in Brittany,
takes its name from the lighthouse which the Bene-
dictine monks maintained to warn vessels from the
dangerous rocks upon the coast.' Mt)NCHEN, or Munich
as we call it, takes its name from the warehouse in
which the monks (German mbnche) stored the produce
of their valuable salt-mines at Reichenhall and Salzburg.
ABBEVILLE was the township belonging to the Abbot
of St. Valeri, seized and fortified by Hugh Capet*
Numerous names, such as NUNTHORPE and NUNEATON,
STAPLEFORD ABBOTS and ABBOTS LANGLEY, BISHOPSLEY
and BISHOPS STORTFORD, MONXTON and MONKLANDS,
PRESTON and PRESTWICH, PRIORS HARDWICK, BUCK-
^ Yonge, Christian Names^ voL L p. 54.
' Ibid. vol. I p. 382.
• Palgrave, Normandy and England^ vol. iii. p. 56.
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346 Sacred Sites.
LAND MONACHORUM, KINGSBURY EPISCOPI, and TOLLER
FRATRUM, record the sites of the long-secularized pos-
sessions of nuns, abbots, priors, bishops, friars, monks,
and priests.^ The word Temple often appears as a
prefix or suffix in village names, and marks the posses-
sion of the Templars : such are CRESSING TEMPLE and
TEMPLE ROYDON in Essex, TEMPLE CHELSING, and
TEMPLE DINSLEY in Herts. TERREGLES in Dumfries is
a corruption of Terra Ecclesue^ a phrase which is usually
translated into the form of KIRKLANDS, or corrupted
into ECCLES. The name of AIX-LA-CHAPELLE * reminds
us of the magnificent shrine erected over the tomb of
Charlemagne, and CAPEL CURIG of the chapel of a
humble British saint
1 Sion House, near Kew, was a nunnery. Gough's Camden, voL ii.
p. 88.
'Mr. Buij^n, in his amusing letters from Rome, has recently pointed out
an undoubted etymology for this word chapd^ which has so long puzzled
etymologists. It seems to have been the name given to the arched sepulchres
excaN'ated in the walls of the catacombs of Rome, which afterwards became
places where prayer was wont to be made. The Low Latin capella is the
hood or covering of the altar. Hence our words cape and cap. See Wedge-
wood, Dictionary of English EtymoL vol. i. p. 322. The inscription in the
catacombs which gave Mr. Buigon the clue is UUratim as follovrs : *' ego
SECUNDA FECI CAPELLA BONE MEMORIS FILIEM MESM SECUNDINEM QK
RECESSIT IN FIDEM CUM FRATREM SUM LAURENTIUM IN PACE RECKS-
ERUND. " Letters from Rome, p. 206. Any of our young schoolboy readers
may correct the grammar, and then translate the mscription for their sister's
benefit
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Geology and Etymology, 347
CHAPTER XIV.
PHYSICAL CHANGES ATTESTED BY LOCAL NAMES.
7%t nature of geological changes^ — The valley of the Thames once a lagoon
filled with islets — Thanet once an islands-Reclamation of Romney Marsh
— Newhaven — Somersetshire — The Traeth Mawr^ The Carse of Cowrie —
Loch Maree — The Fens of Cambridgeshire — The Isle of Axholme^Silting
up of the lake of Geneva — Increase of the Delta of the Po — Volcanoes —
Destruction of ancient Forests — Icelandic Forests— The Weald of Kent — In^
crease of population — Populousness of Scucon England— The nature of
Scucon husbandry — English vineyards — Extinct animals : the wolf, badger,
auroch, and beaver — Ancient ScUt Works — Lighthouses — Changes in the
relative commercial importance of towns.
Vast geological operations are still in progress on this
globe ; continents are slowly subsiding at the rate of
a few inches in a century ; while new lands are uprising
out of the waters, and extensive deltas are in process
of formation by alluvial deposition. But these changes,
vast as is their aggr^ate amount, are so gradual that
generations pass away without having made note of any
sensible mutations. Local names, however, form an en-
during chronicle, and often enable us to detect the pro-
gress of these physical changes, and occasionally even to
assign a precise date to the period of their operation.
Thus it is not difficult to prove that the present aspect
of the lower valley of the Thames is very different from
what it must have been a thousand years ago. Instead
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348 Physical Changes attested by Local Names,
of being confined within regular banks the river must
have spread its sluggish waters over a broad lagoon,
which was dotted with marshy islands. This is indicated
by the fact that the Anglo-Saxon word ea or ey^ an
island, enters into the composition of the names of many
places by the river-side which are now joined to the
mainland by rich pastures. BERMONDSEY, PUTNEY,
CHERTSEY, MOULSEY,^ IFFLEY, OSNEY, WHITNEY, and
ETON or Eaton, were all islands in the lagoon. The
Abbey Church of Westminster was built for security on
THORNEY Island, and the eastern portion of the water
in St. James's Park is a part of that arm of the Thames
which encircled the sanctuary of the monks, and the
palace of the Anglo-Saxon kings. The name CHELSEA
is a contraction of chesel-ea^ or " shingle island," and in
its natural features the place must have once resembled
the eyots which are found in the Thames near Hampton.
In Leland*s time there was a shingle bank at the mouth
of the Axe in Devon called the Chisille. The long
ridge of shingle which joins the Isle of Portland to the
mainland is also called the Chesil bank ; and the name
of the Isle of Portland proves that the formation of this
ridge took place in modem times, subsequent to the
period when Anglo-Saxon gave place to modem English.
The Isle of Thanet was formerly as much an island as
the Isle of Shepp<?K is at the present time. Ships bound
up the Thames used ordinarily to avoid the perils of
the North Foreland by sailing through the channel
between the island and the mainland, entering by Sand-
wich and passing out by Reculver, near Heme Bay.
SANDWICH, or *' sandy bay," was then one of the chief
ports of debarkation ; but the sands have filled up the
^ The island at the confluence of the Mole and the Thames.
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Silting up of tJu Stour. 349
wick or bay, the ancient port is now a mile and a half
distant from high-v/ater mark; and the ruins of Rutupiae,
now Richborough, the port where the Roman fleets used
to be laid up, are now surrounded by fine pastures.
EBBFLEET, which is now half a mile from the shore, was
a port in the twelfth century,^ and its name indicates
the former existence of a " tidal channel " at the spot^
This navigable channel, which passed between the Isle
of Thanet and the mainland, has ^been silted up by the
deposits brought down by the River Stour. STOUR-
MOUTH — ^the name, be it noted, is English, not Anglo-
Saxon — is now four miles from the sea, aqd marks the
former embouchure of this river, chiselet, close by,
was once a shingle islet, and the name of FORDWICK,^
five mfles farther inland, proves that in the time of the
Danes the estuary must have extended nearly as far as
Canterbury.*
ROMNEY Marsh,* which is now a fertile tract contain-
i^^g 50,000 acres of the best pasturage in England,
must, in Saxon times, have resembled the shore near
Lymington — a worthless muddy flat, overflowed at every
tide. OLD ROMNEY, NEW ROMNEY, and SCOTNEY, were
1 Stanley, Memcriah of Canterbury^ p. 13.
a The Celtic name of durlock, more than a mile from the sea, means
^' water lake," and indicates the process hy which the estuary was converted
into meadow.
3 Fordwick means in Danish the bay on the arm of the sea. (See p. 161,
supra). Fordwick was anciently the port of Canterbury, and a corporate
town. Cough's Camden, vol. i. p. 356. Nonc^^ in the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries was "on the banks of an arm of the sea.'' Lyell,
Principles of Geology^ p. 307.
4 Beyond Canterbury is Olantigh, anciently Olantige, whose name shows
that in Saxon times it must have been an ige^ or island.
s From the Gaelic word ruimne^ a marsh. The name of RAMSEY, in the
Fens, is derived from the same source.
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3SO Physical Changes attested by Local Names,
low islands which afforded sites for the earliest fisher-
villages. The name of WINCHELSEA, or gwent-chesel-^,
enlightens us as to the process by which these islands were
formed — namely, by the heaping up of shingle banks
at the seaward edge of the muddy flats.^ The recent
origin of this tract of land, and the gradual progress of
its reclamation, are moreover curiously illustrated by
the fact that over the greater portion of the marsh the
local names present a marked contrast to the ancient
names which so abound in Kent. They are purely
English, such as IVYCHURCH, FAIRFIELD, 6ROORLAND,
and NEWCHURCH. In a few of the more elevated spots
the names are Saxon or Celtic, as winchelsea or
ROMNEY, while it is only when we come to the inland
margin of the marsh that we meet with a fringe of
ancient names like LYMNE or APPLEDORE,^ which show
the existence of continuous habitable land in the times
of the Romans or the Celts.'
Lymne, the ancient Portus Lemanus, is the mawh/^
Tufifjv of Ptolemy, and was one of the three g^eat
fortified harbours which protected the communications
of the Romans with the Continent The ruins of the
^ Dungeness, at the southern extrenuty of Romney Manh, is a long spit
of shingle, derived from the disintegration of the clii&at Beachy Head, and
has for the last two centuries been advancing seaward at the rate of neariy
twenty feet per annum. Lyell, Princ^les, p. 316.
* From the Celtic <hor^ water. Appledore was once a maritime town.
See Cough's Camden, vol. i. p. 368.
> The same is the case*in the Fens. The portions reclaimed at an early
period show English names surrounded by a border of Danish names on the
north, and of Saxon names on the south. The same is the case with the
Delta of the Rhone. Places lying to the north of the old Roman road be-
tween Nismes and Beziers have Celtic names, while all those to the sooth
of the road have names of Romance derivation. Astmc, Hut, Langueipe^
pp. 374. 375 ; Lyell, Principles, p. 258.
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Formation of Romney Marsh, • 35 1
Roman port are now nearly two mUes from the sea.
The names of west HYTHE, which is more than a mile
from the shore, and of HYTHE, which is only half a
mile, chronicle the silting up of the backwater which
formed the ancient port, and the successive seaward ad-
vances of the shingle since the time when the Saxon word
kitke was superseded by its English equivalent "haven "^
The name of NEWHAVEN commemorates a geological
event of an opposite character. LEWES was anciently
a port,^ and hamsey was a marshy island in the estuary
of the River Ouse, which then entered the sea at SEA-
FORD,* but a great storm in the year 1570 permanently
changed its course, and the port of Newhaven has arisen
at the new outlet of the river.*
Pevensey and selsey arc now no longer islands,
the channels which divided them from the mainland
having been silted up. The name of SELSEY (seal's
island) reminds us of the remote period when seals lay
basking on the Sussex coast*
The central part of Somersetshire presents many
names which show great physical changes.* In Celtic
times STICKLINCH, MOORLINCH, and CHARLINCH were
islands, as was the case in the Saxon period with
MUCHELNEY, RODNEY, GODNEY, ATHELNEY, HENLEY,
BRADNEY, HORSEY, HACKNEY, OTHERY, MIDDLENEY,
^ Wright, Wanderings of an Antiquary^ p. 12$.
* See p. 171, supra,
» Probably from the Danish j^(i?n/.
^ The name of Newport in South Wales reminds ns in like manner of
the decay of the Roman port at Caerleon, and the erection of another a
little nearer to the sea ; and Newport in the Isle of Wight has taken the
place of an older harbour near Carisbrooke.
' See Gough's Camden, vol. i. p. 268.
* See Macaulay, History rfEngland^ vol I p. 604.
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352 Physical Changes attested by Local Names.
THORNEY, CHEDZOY, WESTONZOYLAND, MIDDLEZOY,
and WESTHOLME, while the pasture-land called MEARE
must once have been the bed of an inland lake.
The whole district of the TRAETH MAWR or " Great
Sand " in North Wales was an estuary at no very remote
period. The action of the sea may be distinctly traced
along the rocks near Tremadoc.^ Almost every rocky
knoll on the wide flat pasture land bears the name of
ynysy or island,* and must once have been surrounded by
every tide, as is still the case with Ynys-gifftan and
Ynys-gyngar. YNYS FAWR and YNYS EACH, the " Great
Island " and the " Little Island " are now two miles from
the sea.* From YNYS HIR, now some way inland, Madoc
is said to have sailed in quest of unknown lands. Ywem,
two miles from the sea, was once a sea-port, as is proved
by the parish register of Penmorpha.*
The tract of land near Dartmouth called NEW GROUND
was only reclaimed from the river a century ago.* ROOD-
EY, which now forms the race-course at Chester, was
formerly an island surrounded by the river Dee, like
the INCHES, or islands of Perth. The Carse of Gowrie
is the bed of an ancient arm of the sea, which having
been nearly filled up by the alluvium of the Tay and
the Earn, has, in common with the whole of central
Scotland, undergone an elevation of twenty to thirty
feet since the Roman period. INCHTURE, INCHMARTIN,
1 The site of this town was reclaimed from the sea in 1813 by means of
an embankment made by Mr. Maddock.
« E,g. YNYS-GWELY, YNYS-CEILIOG, YNYS-CALCH, YNYS-TYWYN.
s YNYS GWERTHERYN, south of Harlech, is a mile inland.
< Davis, on the Geology of Tremadoc, in Quarterly Journal of ike C€^
logical Society, for May, 1846, vol. ii. pp. 70—75 ; Chambers, Anciemi Sm
Margins, p. 20.
8 Murray, Handbook to Devonshire and Cornwall^ p. 58.
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Recent Elevation of Scotland. 353
INCHMICHAEL, INCHYRA, and MEGGINCH were, as the
names witness, islands in this frith.^ In the plain a little
below Dunkeld, a hillock containing 156 acres goes by
the name of INCHTUTHILL, " the island of the flooded
stream," showing that the Tay must once have sur-
rounded it^
This secular elevation of Scotland may also be traced
by means of the raised beaches on the western coast
Here also we meet with a remarkable etymological
confirmation of the results arrived at on independent
grounds by geological investigators. "Loch Ewe, in
Ross-shire, one of our salt sea lochs," says Hugh Miller,
" receives the waters of Loch Maree — a noble freshwater
lake, about eighteen miles in length, so little raised
above the sea level that ere the last upheaval of the
land it must have formed merely the upper reaches of
Loch Ewe. The name Loch Maree — Mary's Loch ^ —
is evidently mediaeval. And, curiously enough, about a
mile beyond its upper end, just where Loch Ewe would
have terminated ere the land last arose, an ancient farm
has borne, from time immemorial, the name of KINLOCH
EWE— the head of Loch Ewe." *
Start island, in the Orkneys, has in comparatively
recent times been separated from the Island of Sanda.
The word start means a tail, as in the case of Start-point,
in Devon, and the redstart or red-tailed bird. Thus the
1 Chambers, Ancimt Sea Margins^ p. 19 ; Geikie, ''On the Date of the
Last Elevation of Central Scotland," in Quarterly Journal of Geological
Society, vol. xviii p. 227. An anchor has been dag up at Megginch, and at
the fann of Inchmichael a boat-hook was found at a depth of eight feet
below the soil, and twenty feet above the present high watermark.
* Chambers, Ancient Sea Margins, p. 44.
* Or, perhaps, from the Celtic mar, the sea.
* Hugh Miller, Lectures on Geology, p. 23.
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354 Physical Changes attested by Local Names.
name of this island proves that it was once only a long
promontory projecting from the island of Sanda.^
The Fens of Cambridgeshire aud Huntingdonshire
constitute a vast alluvial flat of more than a thousand
square miles in extent, and must formerly have been
a shallow bay six times as large as the Wash, which
has been silted up by the deposits of the Nen, the
Welland, and the Ouse.
The local names in this district show, as might have
been expected, great alterations in the distribution of
land and water. HOLBEACH is now six miles from the
coast, and WISBEACH, the beach of the Wash or Ouse,
is seven miles inland.^ The ancient sea-wall, now at a
considerable distance from the shore, has given rise to
the local names of WALSOKEN, WALTON, and walpole.
The tide does not now come within two miles of
TYDD, and almost all the present villages in the Fen
country were originally islands, as is shown by their
names. Thus Tilney, Gedney, Stickney, Ramsey,
Thomey, Stuntney, Southery, Norney, Quaney, Helgae,
Higney, Spinney, Whittlesey, Yaxley, Ely, Holme,
Oxney, Eye, Coveny, Monea, Swathesey, Sawtrey,
Raveley, Rowoy, and Wiskin,* are no longer, as they
once were, detached islands in the watery waste; the
great inland seas of Ramsey Mere and Whittlesey Mere
are now drained, and the flocks of wildfowl have given
place to flocks of sheep.
The Isle of axholme or axelholme, in Lincoln-
1 Lyell, Principles, p. 302.
» We have also landbeach, waterbeach, asbeach, over (Anglo-Saxon
ufer, a shore), and erith {ora, shore, and hithe^ haven), which are all
places on the edge of the present Fen district.
» Both syllables of this name are Celtic It is evidently the " ^water
island." See p. 204, supra.
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The Fens, 355
shire, is now joined to the main land by a wide tract
of rich comland. The name shows that it has been
an island during the time of the Celts, Saxons, Danes,
and English. The first syllable Ax is the Celtic word
for the water by which it was surrounded. The Anglo-
Saxons added their word for island to the Celtic name,
and called it Axey. A neighbouring village still goes
by the name of HAXEY. The Danes added holing the
Danish word for island, to the Saxon name, and modern
English influences have corrupted Axeyholme into
Axelholme, and contracted it into Axholme, and have
finally prefixed the English word Isle, The internal
evidence afforded by the name is supplemented by
historical facts. In the time of Henry II. the island
was attacked and taken by the Lincolnshire men in
boats, and so late as the time of James I. it was sur-
rounded by broad waters, across which the islanders
sailed once a week to attend the market at Doncaster.
We can trace similar changes on the Continent. The
city of LISLE is built on Uisky once an island. MON-
TREUIL SUR MER, formerly Monasteriolum super Mare,
was built in the year 900, on the banks of an estuary
which has been silted up, and the town is now separated
from the sea by many miles of alluvial soil.^ A Danish
fleet once sailed up to jS^rvent, which is now ten miles
from the sea. WISSAN is now four miles from the sea.
The name is a corruption of the Norse Wissant or
Witsand, and refers to the "white sand" which has
choked up the harbour from which, in all probability,
Caesar first sailed for Britain.^ ST. pierre-SUR-LE-
1 Smiles, Lives of the Engineers^ vol. i. p. 37.
' Palgrave, England and Normandy ^ vol. ii. p. 57. -
* Ibid. vol. ii. p. 200.
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3S6 Physical Changes attested by Local Names.
DIGUE, near Bruges; is six miles from the present
seawall, and the town of DAMME, which once possessed
an harbour and considerable maritime trade, is now an
inland agricultural town.^ n6tre dame DES PORTS,
at the mouth of the Rhone, was an harbour in the year
898, but is now three miles from the sea.^ OSTIA, as
the name implies, and as we are expressly told, was
founded at the mouth of the Tiber, but the alluvial
matter from the Apennines brought down by the yellow
river has now advanced the coast line three miles
beyond Ostia.*
There are but few islands in the world whose names
do not contain some root denoting their insular character.
A remarkable exception to this rule is to be found in
the names of the islands which lie off the mouth of the
Scheldt, and at the entrance of the Zuyder Zee. Does
not the circumstance bear a striking testimony to the
historical fact that it is only within comparatively recent
times that the delta of the Scheldt has been broken up,
and the Zuyder Zee formed by incursions of the ocean ?
Port VALAIS, the Portus Valesiae of the Romans,
occupies the site of the ancient harbour at the upper
end of the Lake of Greneva. The alluvium of the Rhone
has advanced the land nearly two miles in less than
two thousand years, being at the rate of between four
and five feet per annum. VILLENEUVE, the new town,
has taken the place of the old port
The southern face of the Alps is bare and precipitous,
and from meteorological causes, which are well under-
stood, the district is peculiarly liable to sudden and
* Burn, Tour in Belgium, p. 14.
« Lyell, Principles, p. 259.
8 Bimbuiy, in Smith's Diet. ofGeogr, s. v. Ostia.
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Delta of the Po. 357
violent falls of rain. The rivers of Lombardy are, in
consequence, charged with an exceptional amount of
alluvial matter. The whole plain of the Fo is rapidly-
rising, so much so that at Modena the ruins of the
Roman city are found forty feet beneath the surface
of the ground. Hence at the embouchures of the Po
and the Adige we might anticipate rapid changes in
the coast line ; and this we find to be the case. We
find a range of ancient dunes and sea beaches stretching
from Brandolo to Mesola. Ravenna, now four miles
inland, stood on the coast two thousand years ago. One
of the suburbs of Ravenna is called CLASSE, a corruption
of Classis,^ the ancient name of the port, which was
capable of giving shelter to 250 ships of war. Classe
is now separated from the sea by a dense forest of
stone-pines two miles in breadth. The Adriatic takes
its name from the town of ADRIA, which was its chief
port, B.C. 200. ATRI, the modern town upon the site,
is now nearly twenty miles from the coast
The present delta of the Po, containing 2,800 square
miles, was probably at no very distant date a shallow
lagoon, resembling that which is crossed by the railway
viaduct between Mestre and Venice. The delta com-
mences at the town of OSTEGLIA, now eighty-six miles
from the sea. The name of Osteglia would indicate
that here formerly was the embouchure of the Po.
ESTE is nearly thirty miles inland, and the name seems
also to be a corruption of the word ostia. The Po has,
moreover, frequently changed its channel, and two of
these deserted river-beds are known by the names of
the PO MORTO, the PO VECCHIO.^
1 Niebnhr, Lectures on EthnoL and Geogr, vol. ii. p. 240 ; Lyell, Prin-
cipleSy p. 256 ; Marsh, Man and Nature^ p. 256.
* Lyell, Principles f p. 255 ; Beardmore, Hydrology^ pp. 164 — 180.
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3 5 8 Physical Changes attested by Local Names.
The name of VESUVIUS is probably Oscan, and proves,
as Benfey thinks, that this volcano must have been in
eruption some 2,400 years ago, before the Greeks
arrived in Italy .^ A similar conclusion may be deduced
from the fact that the name of ETNA means a "furnace'*
in the Phoenician language.^
On the Bay of Baiae we find MONTE NUOVO, the " new
mountain," which, at the time of the eruption in the
year 1538, was thrown up to a height of 440 feet in less
than a week.^
Near Primiero, in the Italian Tyrol, is a lake, three
miles long, called LAGO NUOVO. This was formed a few
years ago by a landslip which choked up the entrance
to one of the narrow mountain valleys *
The physical condition and the climate of the northern
hemisphere have been largely affected by the destruction
of the forests which once clothed the greater part of
Europe.* The notices of ancient writers are seldom
sufficiently definite or copious to enable us to discover
the extent of the old woodland. Occasionally we have
tangible evidence such as is supplied by the bog oak of
Ireland, or the buried trees of Lincolnshire. But ancient
names here stand us in good stead, and enable us, at
certain definite periods, to discover with considerable
precision, the extent of primaeval forests now partly or
entirely destroyed
1 Benfey, in Hofer's ZeUschrifty vol. ii. p. 1 18. Cf. the Sanskrit twnr,
fire.
* See p. 93, supra. The name of sodom means burning, thereby indi-
cating, as Dr. Stanley has suggested, the volcanic character of the r^on in
'which the catastrophe took place. Sineu and Pal, p. 289.
* Lyell, Principles of Geology^ pp. 366 — ^372.
4 Gilbert and Churchill, Dolomite Mountains^ p. 451.
B See Marsh, Man and Nature^ pp. 128 — 329.
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Destruction of Forests. 359
The local names of Iceland show in a very curious
manner the way in which the rigour of the climate and
the scarcity of fuel have caused the total destruction of
the few forests of dwarf trees which existed at the time
when the island was first discovered. At the present
time, a solitary tree, about thirty feet in height, is the
sole representative of the former Icelandic forests ; and
the stunted bushes growing on the heaths are so eagerly
sought for fuel that, as a recent traveller has observed,
the loss of a toothpick is likely to prove an irreparable
misfortune. The chief resource of the inhabitants is
the drift-wood cast upon the coast by the gulf stream,
or the costly substitute of Norwegian timber. But at
the time of the first settlement of the island there must
have been considerable tracts of woodland. In the Land-
namabok we find no less than thirty-one local names
containing the suffix Iiolty a wood, and ten containing
the word skogr, a shaw. Most of these names still re- '
main, though every vestige of a wood has disappeared.
Thus there are several places still called HOLT ; and we
also find HOLTFORD, SKALHOLT, REYKHOLT (where
Snorro Sturleson was murdered), SKOGARFOSS, Cape
SKAGI, SKOGCOTTR, and BLASKOGIHEIDI or Blue-wood-
Heath.
The name of HOLSTEIN, or Hol-satia, means the Forest
settlement, and it probably indicates, as Dr. Latham
has observed,^ that the now barren Segeberger Heath
was once a vast forest which supplied a portion of the
Angles with the materials for the fleets with which they
invaded the shores of England,
In southern Europe names like BROGLio, BROLO, and
BREUIL attest the former existence of forests in districts
1 English Language^ vol. i. p. 123.
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360 Physical Changes attested by Local Names.
now entirely bare. The name of the island of MADEIRA
bears witness to the vast forests which clothed the moun-
tains of the island, and which were wantonly destroyed
by fire soon after the discovery by the Portuguese,^
The bare heaths to the south-west of London seem
to have been at one time partially clothed with forest
This is indicated by the root holt (German <^oI)),
which we find in the names of bagshot, badshot,
EWSHOT, LODSHOT, BRAMSHOT, ALDERSHOT, and
ALDERSHOLT-
The vast tract in Kent and Sussex which is now
called the WEALD,' is the remains of a Saxon forest
called the Andredesleah, which, with a breadth of 30
miles, stretched for 120 miles along the northern frontier
of the kingdom of the South Saxons. In the district of
the Weald almost every local name, for miles and miles,
terminates in hurst y ley, den^ or field. The hursts^ and
charts^ were the denser portions of the forest ; the leys
were the open forest glades where the cattle love to lie ; *
^ Marsh, Man and Nature, p. 12^ So also local names attest thefonner
existence of the forests which covered the noW bare slopes of the High
Alps of Dauphiny. lb. p. 24.
* Cf. the German wald^ wood well Street is the name of the Roman
road which ran through the wooded district Maiuy, HiU, des Forits^
p. 129.
* E.g. Penshurst, Lyndhurst, and Chiselhurst
^ As in Seal Chart and Chart Sutton in Kent The word chart is identical
with the hart (wood, or forest), which we find in such German names as the
HARTZ Mountains, the hercynian Forest, hunhart, lyndhart, flkc H
and ch are interchangeable, as in the case of the -Chatti, who have given
their name to Hesse. There seems to have been a German word harmd or
charudf from which hart and chart are derived We find it in the names of
the "forest tribes," the Harudes and the Cherusd. Cf«Tatham, En^h
Language, vol. t p. 57 ; Maury, Hist, des Forks, p. 187.
» The root of the word leah or lea, is the verb " to lie," Kemble, Codcx'
Dipt. voL iii. p. xxxiiL
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The Weald.
361
the dens ^ were the deep wooded valleys, and the fields *
were little patches of "felled" or cleared lands in the
midst of the surrounding forest. From PETERSFIELD
and MIDHURST, by BILLINGHURST, CUCKFIELD, WAD-
HURST, and LAMBERHURST, as far as hawkshurst
and TENTERDEN, these forest names stretch in an un-
interrupted string.* The dens were the swine pastures ;
and down to the seventeenth century the "Court of
Dens," as it was called, was held at Aldington to deter-
mine disputes arising out of the rights of forest pasture.*
^ Den is probably a Celtic word adopted by the Saxons. The ardennes
is the ''great forest" on the frontiers of Belgium and France. On the
word den,, see Leo, RectitudineSy p. 91 ; Kemble, Saxons, vol. i. p. 481 ;
Maury, Hist, des Forfts, p. 167.
* E,g, Cuckfield, lindfield, Uckfield. On Jleid sec note on p. 160, supra,
> An analysis of the forest names in the Weald gives the following
results: —
hurst
den
ley
holt,
hot
field
Total
Central Kent ....
Northern Sussex . . .
Southern Surrey . . .
Eastern Hants ....
Total
33
40
I
26
42
16
0
I
22
21
8
\5
I
4
II
3
19
28
2
6
117
109
22
51
100
59
66
«9
55
299
* The surnames Hayward and Howard are corruptions of Hogwarden,
an officer elected annually to see that the swine in the common forest pas-
tures or dens were duly provided with rings, and were prevented from
5tTa3ring. The Howard family first comes into notice in the Weald, where
their name would lead us to expect to find them. So the family name of
Woodwanl is vudu veard, the wood warden, whose duties were analogous
to those of the howard. There are many evidences of the importance
attached to swine in Anglo-Saxon times. F/itcA is etymologically the same
word z&fldsck or fiesh, showing that the flesh of swine was pre-eminently
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362 Physical Changes attested by Local Names,
Another line of names ending in den testifies to the
existence of the forest tract in Hertfordshire, Bedford-
shire, and Huntingdonshire, which formed the western
boundary of the East Saxon and East Anglian king-
doms. HENLEY IN ARDEN, and HAMPTON IN ARDEN,
are vestiges of the great Warwickshire forest of ARDEN,
which stretched from the forest of Dean to Sherwood
Forest
The BLACK FOREST in Argyle is now almost entirely-
destitute of trees, and the same is the case with the
COTSWOLD Hills in Gloucestershire. This name con-
tains two synonymous elements.^ The second syllable
is the Anglo-Saxon weald, a wood, which we find in
the now treeless WOLDS of Yorkshire ; and the first
portion is the Celtic coed, a wood, which we find in
CHAT MOSS, CATLOW, COITMORE, GOODGRAVE, and CAD-
BEESTON.2
The name of DERBY, the "village of wild beasts,"*
shows us the state of things on the arrival of the Danes.
The Midland Derby lay between the forests of Arden
and Sherwood. The hundred of Derby, which occupies
the southern portion of Lancashire, and includes the
populous towns of Liverpool and Wigan, was one vast
forest, with the solitary village of Derby standing in
" the flesh " to which our ancestors were accustomed. Sir Walter Scott,
in the well-known forest dialogue in Ivanhoe, has pointed out the fact that
while veal, beef, mutton, and venison are Norman terms, bacon is Saxcnu
Cf. Mrs. Grote, Collected Papers, p. 165 ; Kemble, Angh-Saxons, vol. i. pp.
481 — ^486 ; Leo, RectUudines, p. 129; Marsh, Lectures on En^ish Langua,gLt
p. 248.
^ See pp. 210—213, supra,
* Whitaker, History of Whalley, p. 9 ; Verstegan, Restitution, p. 26a.
> The German word thier still means any wild animal ; but in En^and
the extermination of the wolf, the vrild ox, and the badger, has left the
*' deer " as the solitaiy representative of the German thier.
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Forest-Names, 363
the midst, till at length the villages of Ormskirk and
Preston grew up around the church built by Ormr, and
the priest's house.^
Indeed, Lancashire, which is now such a busy hive of
workers, was one of the most desolate and thinly peopled
parts of England before coal had been discovered under-
lying her barren moorlands and thick forests. An
analysis of the local names will enable us to make a
rough comparison of the area anciently under cultivation
with that which was unreclaimed. Throughout Lan-
cashire we find very few names ending in borough^ by^
or thorpe^ and hence we conclude that the number of
villages and towns was small. There is a fair sprinkling
of names in haiUy worthy and cote^ suffixes which would
denote detached homesteads ; while the very lai^e
number of names which are compounded with the words
shaWy holt, ley, hill, and merey prove that the greater
portion of the county consisted only of woodland or wild
moor.2
In order to arrive at somewhat definite results an
analysis has been made of the local names in the counties
of Surrey and Suffolk. Of the total number of names
in Surrey 36 per cent, have terminations like wood^ holt,
hursty ley, detiy or moor, and 12 per cent, end in daUy
combey ridge, hill, &c., while 40 per cent exhibit such
suffixes as haniy worth, cotey totiy stedy or borough, whence
we gather that the proportion of uninhabited to in-
habited places was 48 to 40. In Suffolk, on the other
hand, the population seems to have been much more
dense, for 65 per cent, of the names denote habitations,
18 per cent denote wood and moorland, and 7 per cent
^ See Whitaker, History of Maruhestery vol. ii. p. 403.
• Davies, in Philolog, Trans, for 1855, p. 262.
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364 Physical Changes attested by Local Names,
denote hills.^ It would thus appear that the ratio of
the density of the population in Suffolk to that in Surrey
was approximately as 13 to 8, whereas at the present
time the population of Suffolk is 215 to the square mile,
and that of Surrey 842, or in the ratio of 13 to 48.
The names which we have been considering indicate
the former existence of ancient forests that have been
cleared. In Hampshire we are presented with the con-
verse phenomenon ; we meet with names which establish
a fact which has been doubted by some historical in-
quirers, that extensive populated districts were afforested
to form what now constitutes the New Forest The
very name of the NEW FOREST has its historical value —
and within its present reduced area, the sites of some of
the villages that were destroyed are attested by names
like TROUGHAM, FRITHAM, WOOTON, HINTON, BOCH-
AMPTON, TACHBURY, WINSTED, CHURCH WALK, and
CHURCH MOOR, while the village names of Greteham,
Adelingham, Wolnetune, and Bermintone survive only
in the Domesday record.*
The hundred is supposed to have been originally the
settlement of one hundred free families of Saxon colonists,
* We may tabulate these results as follows : —
Names in
ham.
ton.
ing.
thoipe.
borouga
or bury.
field.
ley.
wood.
fannL
Suffolk. . . .
Surrey ....
84
36
88
30
17
10
5
I
12
10
31
9
27
40
I
14
0
IS
• Ellis, Introduction toD(fmesday, p. xxxiv. A colony of the dispossessed
villagers was established at Carlisle by Rufus. Of this I can find no trace
in local names. See Palgrave, Eng. Common, vol i. p. 449.
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Populousness of Saxon England,
36s
just as the canton was a similar Celtic division.^ In
rural districts the population must have increased at
least tenfold — often in a much larger proportion — since
the period of the formation of the present hundreds.
Many single agricultural parishes contain a hundred
families removed above the labouring class, and we may
probably conclude that the population is equal to that
one of the Saxon hundreds.
The manner in which the island was gradually peopled,
and the distribution and relative density of the Saxon
population, are curiously indicated by the varying sizes
of the hundreds. In Kent, Sussex, and Dorset, which
were among the earliest settlements, the small dimensions
of the hundreds prove that the Saxon population was
very dense, whereas, when we approach the borders of
Wales and Cumberland, where the Saxon tenure was
one rather of conquest than of colonization, and where
a few free families probably held in check a considerable
subject population, we find that the hundreds include a
much larger area.
Thus the average number of square miles in each
hundred is,
In Sussex 23
Kent 24
Dorset 30
Wiltshire 44
Northamptonshire • . 52
Surrey 58
In Herts . . .
Gloucestershire
Nottinghamshire
Derbyshire . .
Warwickshire .
Lancashire . .
79
97
105
162
179
302
We arrive at somewhat similar conclusions from the
proportions of the slaves to the rest of the population,
as returned in Domesday. In the east of England we
1 From the Welsh cant^ a hundred. See Diefenbach, Cdtica^ i. pp. 113
—115; Hallam, Middle Ages^ voL ii. p. 391.
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366 Physical CJianges attested by Local Names,
find no slaves returned, the Celtic population having
become entirely assimilated. In Kent and Sussex the
slaves constitute lo per cent, of the population: in
Cornwall and Devon, 20 per cent ; and in Gloucester-
shire, 33 per cent
The knowledge which we possess of several thousand
names which have been preserved in Anglo-Saxon
charters, enables us to ascertain, in many cases, the
original forms of names which have now become more
or less corrupted. From the study of these names Pro-
fessor Leo, of Halle,^ has arrived at the conclusion that
agriculture was in a more advanced state among the
Anglo-Saxons than on the Continent A three course
system of husbandry was adopted ; wheat and flax axe
the crops which seem to have been the most cultivated.
We meet with indications of the existence of extensive
estates, on which stood large houses, occasionally of
stone, but more frequently of wood, for the residence of
the proprietor, surrounded by the tun or inclosure for
cattle, and the bartun or inclosure for the gathered
crops. Round the homestead were inclosed fields, with
bams, mills, and weirs. There were detached outlying
sheepfolds and sheepcotes, with residences for the serfs,
and special pasturages were allotted to swine and goatSw
The estates were separated from one another by a mark^
or broad boundary of woodland. There were open
forest-pastures fed by swine, which ipust have presented
an appearance resembling that of the open parts of the
New Forest at the present day. In these woodlands the
prevalent vegetation consisted of the thorn, hazel, oak,
^ Leo, Anglo-Saxon Natnes^ p. 72. See also Codex Diplomatiau vCsv
Scuconiciy passim ; St John, Foiir Conquests of England^ voL ii. p. 191 ;
Ellis, Introduction to Domesday Booky pp. xxx. — xliv.
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Saxon Agriculture — English Vineyards. 367
ash, elm, lime, and fern. The maple, beech, birch, aspen,
and willow grew less abundantly. There were planta-
tions of osiers, and the names of the rush and sedge
occur so frequently as to indicate a very defective state
of drainage.
One fact, however, which we gather from these ancient
names indicates a marked peculiarity in the aspect of
Anglo-Saxon England. In no single instance through-
out the charters do we meet with a name implying the
existence of any kind of pine or fir, a circumstance
which curiously corroborates the assertion of Caesar,
that there was no fir found in Britain.^ The names of
fruit-trees are also very unfrequent, with the exception
of that of the apple-tree, and even this appears very
rarely in conjunction with Anglo-Saxon roots, being
found chiefly in Celtic^ names, such as appledore,'
APPLEDURCOMBE, and AVALON ; or in Norse names,
such as APPLEBY, APPLEGARTH, and APPLETHWAITE.
At the period of the Conquest, vineyards do not seem
to have been uncommon in the south of England. In
Domesday Book vineyards are mentioned in the coun-
ties of Hertford, Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent,
Hampshire, Dorset, and Wilts. At the present day a
part of the town of Abingdon is called the vineyard,
and there is also a field so called near Beaulieu Abbey
in Hampshire, and another near Tewksbury. The same
name is borne by lands which were formerly attached
to monastic foundations in the counties of Worcester,
1 See, however, Whitaker, History of Manchester^ vol. i. p. 309.
t The root apple or apiU runs through the whole of the Celtic, Scandi-
navian, Teutonic, and Sclavonic languages. See Diefenbach, Vergleich,
Worterb. vol. i. p. 88.
s Appledore in Romney Marsh was a favourite station of the Vikings.
See Saxon Chronicle. Hastmg the Dane built a castle there.
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368 Physical Changes attested by Local Nantes,
Hereford, Somerset, Cambridge, and Essex, The very
early existence of vine culture in England is indicated
by the name of WINNAL in Hampshire, which is de-
rived from the Celtic gwinllaUy a vineyard.^
Local names occasionally preserve evidence of the
former existence of animals now extinct The names of
the wolf and the bear were so commonly used as per-
sonal appellations by the Danes and Saxons, that we
are unable to pronounce with certainty as to the signi-
ficance of names like WOLFERLOW in Herefordshire, or
BARNWOOD in Gloucestershire. WOLVESEY, a small
island at Winchester, was, however, the place where the
Welsh tribute of wolves' heads was annually paid.^ The
badger or broc gave its name to BAGSHOT, BROXBOURNE,
and BROGDEN ; the wild boar (eofer) was found at
EVERSHAW, EVERSHOT, EVERTON, and EVERSLEY ;^ and
the crane at CRANFIELD and CRANBOURN.
The huge aurochs, which once roamed over the
forests of Germany, is mentioned in the Niebelungen
Lied by the name of the Wisent ; and in Hesse we find
a place called wiesenfeld, the "aurochs' field," and
another called WIESENSTIEGE, the "aurochs' stair."*
We find traces of the elk at ELBACH and ELLWANGEN ;
and of the Schelch, a gigantic elk, now everywhere
extinct, at SCHOllnach.*
The fox is unknown in the Isle of Man, and not even
1 Redding, Wines, pp. 33, 34 ; Gough*s Camden, vol. i. p. 189 ; Lap-
penberg, Anglo-Saxon Kings, vol. ii. p. 360 ; Edinburgh Rtview, voL cxL
P- 392.
* Yonge, Christian Nanus, vol. ii. p. 269.
' Leo, Anglo-Saxon Names, p. 12; Morris, Local Names, p. 10; Monk-
house, Etymologies, p. 40.
4 Piderit, Ortsnamen, p. 296 ; Fo»temann, Ortsnamen, p. I45.
■ Forstemann, Ortsnamen, p. 145 ; Marsh, Man and Nature, p. 85.
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Extinct A nimals — The Beaver. 369
a tradition survives of its former presence. A place
called CRONKSHYNNAGH, which means "Fox hough,"
is, however, sufficient to prove that this animal was once
a denizen of the island.^
The vestiges of the Beaver are very numerous. BE-
VERLEY in Yorkshire is the " beaver's haunt," and we
find a BEVERSTONE in Gloucestershire, and a BEVER-
COATES in Nottinghamshire. The valley which stretches
northwards from the Glyders, scored with glacial striae
and dotted over with moraines, bears the name of NANT
FRANGON, or "the beaver's dale"; and across this valley
stretches SARN YR AFRANGE, or "the beaver's dam."^ The
magnificent pool, well known both to the artist and to the
angler, which lies just below the junction of the Lledr and
the Conway, is called LLYN YR AFRANGE, " the beaver's
pool."^ In Germany we have the names of BIBERSBURG,*
BIVERBIKE (the beaver's beck),* and the BEBRA (anciently
Piparaha, or beaver's river).* From the Sclavonic bobr^
a beaver, we have the River BOBER in Silesia, as well as
BOBERN, BOBEROW, BOBERSBURG, BOBERWITZ and BOBR-
AUJ BifeVRE on the Aisne has been identified with
the BIBRAX of Caesar, and bibracte, now Autun, was
the chief city of the iEduL The tribe of the BIBROCI no
doubt called themselves " the Beavers," in the same way
that North American tribes take their names from the
snakes, the foxes, or the crows.®
1 Train, Isle of Man, vol. L p. 2a
* Pennant, WaieSy voL ii. p. 299.
» Ibid. vol. il p. 134.
-* Pictet, Orig. Indo-Europ, vol, L p. 444.
» Vilmar, Ortsnamen, p. 258.
« Piderit, Ortsnamat, p. 297 ; Vilmar, Ortsftamen^ p. 256.
7 Buttmann, Orisnamen, p. 124 ; Jaco})i, Ortsnamen urn Potsdam,
p. 34.
* Zeuss, Grammatka CelHca, vol. i. p. 44 ; voL ii p. 761 ; Gliick, Kelt
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3/0 Physical Changes attested by Local Names,
In the Saxon charters we find many allusions to
quarries, but there is a remarkable absence of names
denoting iron-works or mines, such names, for instance,
as the GOLDBERG, EISENBERG, KUPFERHCTTE, and
ERZGEBERGE, which we find in Germany. In the Forest
of Dean, however, we find on the map CINDERFORD
and CINDERHILL, names derived from vast heaps of
scoriae, from which the iron had been so imperfectly
extracted by the Roman miners, that these mounds form
a valuable consideration in the purchase of the ground
on which they lie.^ The charters contain numerous
indications of the localities where salt was procured or
manufactured.^ Domesday Book enumerates no less
than 385 salt-works in the single count>'' of Sussex. The
wics in the Essex marshes were probably once salt-
works, and we have already traced the singular way in
which the wych or bay-houses on the coast came to
give a name to the inland salt-works of DROITWICH and
NANTVVICH.^ But the evidence of names enables us to
prove that many existing salt-works were worked before
the advent of the Teutonic race. This we can do by
means of the Celtic word kal, salt; which we find in
the name of PWLLHELLI, the " salt pools," in Carnarvon-
shire. At HALING, on the Hampshire coast, salt-works
still exist, which apparently date from Celtic times ;
Namen^ p. 43 ; Forstemann, Orfsnamen, p. 145. The word beaver b
common to roost of the Ar]ran languages. Latin fiber [=beber], Comisfa
hefir^ Gaelic beabhor, Gaulish biber^ German beftr. The Welsh names are
afranfVf and Host lydaiu, *' the broad-tailed. " On the former ezistenoe of
the beaver in Scotland, see Wilson, Pre-historic Annals^ p. 193.
1 Nicholls, Forest of Dean^ p. 216.
s Ellis, Introduction to Domesday^ p. zl.; Lappenberg, AngUhSaxam
KingSy vol. i. p. 363.
' See p. X62, mpra.
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Salt' Works — LightJtotises, 371
and we find a place called HALTON in Cheshire, and
HALSAL and HALLATON in Lancashire. In the salt-
producing districts of Germany several towns whose
names contain the Celtic root hal stand on rivers which
contain the Teutonic synonym sal} Thus HALLE, in
Prussian Saxony, stands on the river SAALA (salt river) ;
REICHEN-HALL, in Bavaria, is also on a river SALE;*
HALLEIN, in SALZBURG, stands on the SALZA. We find
towns called HALL near the salt mines of the Tyrol, of
Upper Austria, and of Swabia; there is a halle in
Ravensberg, a HALLSTADT in the Salzkammergut, and
HALEN and HAL in Brabant.*
The institution of lighthouses dates from very early
times, as names bear witness. The names of the PHAROS,
at Dover and Alexandria, and the GIBEL EL FARO, near
Malaga, take us back beyond the Christian era. In
Sicily, the cape by the side of Charybdis, and opposite
Scylla, was called cape pelorus (Cape Terrible). It
has now become CAPO DI faro — the erection of the
lighthouse having caused the Cape to lose at once its
terrors, and its name of terror.* cape COLONNA, in
Greece, takes its name from the conspicuous white
columns of the ruined Doric temple which served as
a landmark to the Genoese and Venetian seamen;^
^ An ingenious attempt to account for thiis distinction will be found in
Leo, VarUsungen^ voL i p. 196.
* There were six German rivers anciently called sala. Forstemann, Alt*
iUut, Namenbuchy vol. iL p. 1209. We find the river halys (salt water) in
Galatia, and the river halycus in Sicily.
s On names containing tlxe root hal^ see Leo, ReciUudinesy p. 203 ; and
an article by the same writer in Haupt's Zntschrifl, vol. v. p. 511 ; Grimm,
Deut MyihoL p. 1000; Gamett, Essays^ p. 150; Bender, Deutschen Orts-
namen^ p. 113 ; Mahn, Namm Berlin^ p. 6.
4 Duff, in Oxford Essaysy for 1857, p. 93; Duke of Buckingham, Diary^
Tol i. p. 226.
» Bremer, Gruce^ toL L p. 313.
BB 2 n \
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iyz Physical Changes attested by Local Names,
and CAPE CORUNNA, in Spain, is so called from the
columna or tower which served the purpose of a Pharos.
The name of FLAMBOROUGH HEAD speaks of the rude
fires of coal or wood that used to " flame" by night on
that dangerous headland.^ At the extremity of the
peninsula of FURNESS^ (Fireness) is a small island, on
which stands a ruined building, called the PILE OF
FOUDRY— that is, the **peel" or tower of the "fire isle"*
Furness and Foudry are Norse names, and are an indi-
cation of the antiquity of the lighthouse which guided
the Northmen in their voyages from the Isle of Man to
Lancaster.* The numerous BEACON HILLS throughout
the island call to mind the rude though efficient means
by which, before the days of the Electric Telegraph, the
tidings of great events could be communicated from one
end of the island to the other. There are those now
alive who can remember looking out, the last thing every
night, towards the Beacon Hill to know if the dreaded
landing of Bonaparte had taken place.
Though the commerce of the Anglo-Saxons was not
extensive, yet our local names indicate considerable
changes in the relative commercial importance of various
towns. The natural advantages of the site of London
have, enabled it to maintain, at all times, its ancient pre-
eminence— for its Celtic name implies that, even in
pre-historic times, it was, as it is still, the "city of
ships."
^ This name may, however, mean the "camp of refuge.'* Anglo-Saxon
fleam, a fugitive. The extremity of the headland has been conyerted into
a stronghold by an ancient dyke still called Danes* Dyke.
' Ferguson, Northmen^ p. 109.
s It is possible, however, the Furness may be only the *'foreness^*' and
Foudry the ** isle of fowls.'*
^ There is also a furness on the Belgian coast
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Commercial Changes, 373
From the Anglo-Saxon ceapiatiy to buy, cypa^i, to sell,
and ceap} price, or sale, we derive many names which
indicate early seats of commercial activity. A chipping
was the old English term for a market-place; thus
Wicliffe translates Luke vii. 32, "They ben like children
sitting in chepinge and spekinge togidre." Hence we
see that CHIPPING NORTON, CHIPPING CAMDEN, CHIP-
PING SODBURY, CHIPPING ONGAR, CHIPPING BARNET,
CHEPING HILL on the south side of the church at Witham,
CHEPSTOW, and CHIPPINGHAM, are ancient market-
towns — once of much gredX^r relative commercial import-
ance than they are at present CHEAPSIDE and EAST-
CHEAP were the old market-places of London. In
Norse names the form cope takes the place of the Anglo-
Saxon ceap, COPENHAGEN^ is equivalent to Chipping
Haven. In like manner we infer from the name of the
* To this root we may trace many idiomatic English words. A chapman
is an itinerant seller : chap was originally an abbreviated form of chapman.
Ckmp^ an abbrevialion of good cheap, answers to the French bon marchi ;
while gwd cheap still sundves in the phrase dog cheapo where the letters d.
and g have been interchanged according to a well-known phonetic law. The
original sense of the root is that of bargaining — the ancient method of
making a purchase — ^which is preserved in the word to chaffer. To chop
horses is to sell them. A horse couper is one who deals in horses. To chop
and change is to sell and barter. To swop and to swab are probably pho-
netic variations of to chop. Thus we say the wind chops, i.e. changes.
The ultimate root is the Sanskrit kupa, the beam of a balance. Compare
the old Sclavonic kupitiy to buy, the Gothic kaupotiy the Latin caupo^ and
the Greek Kohn}Xof. Wedgwood, Eng, Etym. vol. i. p. 327 ; Pictet, Orig.
IndO'Europ, part ii. pp. 416, 417.
' Anciently Kiobmaens havn. The Norse word hoping^ is pronounced
chaping. Hence we derive the names of jOnk^ping, lidcOping, ny-
kOping, norrkOping. See Thompson, 1 ravels in Sweden^ p. 42, quoted
in Crichton, Scandinavia^ vol. i. p. 226. KIEL and kiei.erfiord take
their names from the Danish keol^ a ship. Morris, LoccU Names, p. 29.
The name of the hanse towns seems to be from hansel^ a contract, or
Aanse, a company or association. Wedgwood, in Philology Trans, for
1860-61, p. 37.
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374 Physical CJianges attested by Local Names.
COPELAND Islands near Belfast, that here were the store-
houses of the goods brought by Norwegian traders.
COPMANSTHORPE, near York, would be equivalent to
the German Kaufmansdorf, the merchants' village ; and
the form of the word shows us that here the Danish
traders resided, just as those of Saxon blood dwelt
together at CHAPMANSLA*DK The word staple also
enables us to detect some of the local centres of Anglo-
Saxon trade. This word has undergone some changes
in meaning. It now denotes the established merchandize
of a place ; — thus we should say lace is the staple of
Nottingham. But the term was formerly applied to the
place rather than to the merchandize, and our forefathers
would have said Nottingham is the staple of lace.^ In
local names— as dunstable, BARNSTAPLE, and STAPLES
in France— this word staple denotes a place where mer-
chants were wont to store their goods.^
When the English word market takes the place of the
Anglo-Saxon chipping, or staple^ as in the case of STOW-
MARKET, MARKET BOSWORTH, or WICKHAM MARKET,
we ipay fairly conclude that the commercial importance
of the town in question dates from a more recent period.
^ See Trench, Glossary ^ p. 205.
• It may be noted that the name of ampurias in Spain retains, nearly
unchanged, the name of the Hellenic settlement of Emporia,
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Changes and Errors. 375
CHAPTER XV.
CHANGES AND ERRORS.
Vitality of Local Names — Recurrence to ancient Names — Changes in Names
often simply phonetic — Lincoln — Sarum — Whitehall— Phonetic corruptions
among savage tribes — Interchange of suffixes of analogous sound — Tendency
to contraction — Laws of Phonetic change — Examples — Influence of popular
efymological speculation on the form of Names — Tendency to make Names
significant — Examples — Transformations of French Names — Invention of
new Saints from Local Names — Transformed names often give rise to
legends — Bozra — TTtongcastle — The Dun Cow— Antwerp — The Mouse
Tower— The Amazons of the Baltic— Pilatus— The Picts—The Tatars
— Poland — Mussulman — Negro-pont — Corruptions of Street-Names —
America— The Gypsies,
Professor Max MCller, in his deservedly popular
lectures, has well illustrated the process of phonetic
decay by which the words of a nation's speech are
clipped and worn down by. constant currency, until, like
ancient coins, the legend which they bore at first has
become effaced. Many words, whose paternity is never-
theless indisputable, do not retain a single letter, some-
times not even a single vocable, of the ancestral form,
and exhibit still less resemblance to collateral descendants
from the parent stock. Who would imagine, for instance,
that the French word larnie is the same as the English
tear; that the French yi;ar is a lineal descendant of
the Latin dies} or that dies, and the two syllables of
^ Dies — diurnum tempus —giomo—jour, Aujourd^hui contains the root
dies twice, the hui being a corruption of hodie=hoc die. Max Miiller,
Lectures, p. 48; Lewis, Romance Languages, pp. 213, 220.
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3/6 Changes and Errors,
Tuesday are all descended from the same original Aryan
root ?
In the case of local names the raw materials of lan-
guage do not lend themselves with the same facility as
other words to the processes of decomposition and re-
construction, and many names have for thousands of
years remained unchanged, and even linger round the
now deserted sites of the places to which they refer.
The names of five of the oldest cities of the world —
DAMASCUS, HEBRON, GAZA, SIDON, and HAMATH — are
still pronounced by the inhabitants in exactly the same
manner as was the case thirty, or perhaps forty, centuries
ago, defying oftentimes, the persistent attempts of rulers
to substitute some other name. During the three
hundred years of the Greek rule, an attempt was made
by the conquerors to change the name of HAMATH to
Epiphania, but the ancient appellation lingered on the
lips of the surrounding tribes, and has now resumed its
sway, while the Greek name has been utterly forgotten.
The name of Accho, which we find in the Old Testament,
was superseded for some time by the Greek name of
Ptolemais. This is now forgotten, and the place goes
by the name of AKKA.^ The Greeks attempted to im-
pose their name of Nicopolis on the town of Emmaus,
but in vain ; for the modem name, 'AMWAs, still asserts
the vitality of the ancient designation.^ We read, in the
Book of Chronicles, that Solomon built TADMOR in the
wilderness. The Romans attempted to impose on it
the name of Adrianopolis, but this appellation has
utterly perished, and the Bedouin still give the ancient
^ Stanley, Sinai and Palestine^ p. 381 ; Robinson, Later ResearclUs^
p. 92.
» Robinson, Later Researches^ p. 146.
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Vitality of Local Names, 377
name of Tadmor^ to the desolate forest of erect and
prostrate columns, which marks the site of the city of
the palms. TENEDOS and ARGOS still bear the names
which they bore in the time of Homer. Most of the
islands of the Grecian archipelago, and many of the
neighbouring cities, retain their ancient names with little
variation,^ and several of the Etruscan cities are called
by the same names which they bore at the first dawn of
Italian civilization.'
But we need not go to the East for instances of the
persistency with which names adhere to the soiL The
name of LONDON is now, in all probability, pronounced
exactly as it was at the time when Caesar landed on the
coast of Kent. The Romans attempted to change the
name, but in vain. It mattered little what the city on the
Thames was called in the edicts of prefects and procon-
suls. The old Celtic name continued in common usage,
and has been transmitted in turn to Saxons, Normans,
and Englishmen. It is curious to listen to Ammianus
Marcellinus speaking of the name of London as a thing
of the past — an old name which had gone quite out
of use, and given place to the grand Roman name
"Augusta.''*
1 PALMYRA is an Italian trandation of the enchorial name of Tadmor,
and is known only in the West See Beaufort, Egyptian Septdchres and
Syrian Shrines^ vol. i. pp. 34, 302.
« Delos is now dili, Paros is paro, Scyros is skyro, Naxos is naxia,
Patmos is patimo, Samos is samo, Thasos is thaso, Sardis is s art, Sparta
is SPARTI, Arbela is arbil, Tyre or Tzar is sur, Nazareth is NAZI rah,
Joppa is YAFA, Gaza is ghuzzeh.
» The names of saturnia and populonia are unaltered. Cdrtona is
now CORTONO, Yokterrse is volaterra, Sena is sienna, Pisse is pisa, and
Penisia is perugia.
* Ab Augusti profectus, quam veteres adpellavere Lundinium. Amm,
Marc* lib. xxviii. cap. 3, § i. Lundinium, vetus oppidum, quod Augustam
posteritas adpdlavit. Ibid. lib. xxvii. cap. 8, § 7.
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378 Changes and Errors.
In like manner the ancient Indian name of HAITI
has replaced the appellation of ST. DOMINGO, which
the Spanish conquerors attempted to impose upon the
island. But though so many names remain substantially
unchanged in spite of efforts to supplant them, yet, as
the successive waves of population have flowed on,
many influences have been set at work which have
sometimes produced material modifications, and it often
requires the utmost care, and no inconsiderable research,
to detect the original form and signification of very
familiar names, and to extract the information which
they are able to afford.
These modifying influences are of two kinds. The first
is simply phonetic. A conquering nation finds it difficult
to pronounce certain vocables which enter into the names
used by the conquered people, and changes consequently
arise which bring the ancient names into harmony ^ath
the phonetic laws of the language spoken by the con-
querors. Many illustrations of this process may be
found in Domesday. The *' inquisitors " seem to have
been slow to catch the pronunciation of the Saxon
names, and were, moreover, ignorant of their etymo-
logies, and we meet consequently with many ludicrous
transformations. The name of LINCOLN, for example,
which is a hybrid of Celtic and Latin, appears in the
Ravenna Geographer in the form Lindum Colonia, and
in Beda as Lindocolina. The enchorial name must
have been very nearly what it is now. This, however,
the Norman Conquerors were unable to pronounce, and
changed the name into Nincol or Nicole.^ The name of
SHREWSBURY is an English corruption of the Anglo-
* Dugdale, Monast Anglic, vol. il p. 645, apud Thierry, Norman Con-
qtust^ p. 84.
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Corruptions, 379
Saxon Scrobbes-byrig or Shrubborough. The Normans,
however, corrupted Scrobbesbury into Sloppesburie,
whence the modern name of SALOP is derived. So also
the Roman Sorbiodunum was contracted into the
English SARUM, and then, as in the case of Salop, the
Normans changed the r into an /, and have thus given
us the form SALISBURY.
In the Arabic chronicles of Spain we meet with many
curious transformations of familiar names, such, for
instance, as that of the Visigoths into the Bishtolkat.^
Mr. Motley, in his United Netherlands, has given an
amusing instance from the archives of Simancas. A
dispatch of the ambassador Mendoja stated that Queen
Elizabeth was residing at the palace of St. James'.
Philip II. according to his custom, has scrawled on the
margin of this dispatch, " There is a park between it,
and the palace which is called Huytal, but why it is
called Huytal I am sure I don't know." WHITEHALL
seems to have presented an insurmountable etymological
difficulty to the " spider " of the Escurial.
Among unlettered nations phonetic changes of this
kind are especially likely to arise. The word YANKEE
IS probably an Indian corruption of either Anglois or
English? The Chinese call an Englishman Yingkwoh?
the Bengalee calls him Inrej\ and corrupts the words
champagne and coachman into the forms simkin and
gurrawaun,^ At Fort Vancouver, the medium of inter-
* Gayangos, Dynasties^ vol. i. p. 324. So the Indian names Misachibee
and Tlaltelolco have been corrupted into Mississippi and guadalupe.
Russell, Diary North and South y vol. i. p. 381 ; Yonge, Christian Names ,
vol. i p. 81.
« Drake, Book of the Indians, book i. p. 23.
' Fleming, TVavels on Horsdackf p. 116.
^ Hotten, Slang Dictionary, pp. 148, 231.
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380 Changes and Errors,
course a few years ago was a curious Lingua Franca,
composed of Canadian-French, English, Iroquois, Cree,
Hawaian, and Chinese. The word for rum was lum, for
money tula^ a corruption of dollar, and an Englishman
went by the name of a Kintshosh, a corruption of King
George.^ The Kaffirs of Natal call Harry Halt, and
Mary Mali, The Egbas have turned Thompson into
Tamahana, and Philip into Piripi? The Maoris make
sad havoc of biblical names; they have transformed
Lot to Rota, and Philemon to Pirimona? Sailors are
especially given to such innovations. Jos-house, for
instance, the name applied to the Buddhist temples in
China, has been formed by English sailors out of the
Portuguese word dios, god.*
Anglo-Saxon suffixes of nearly similar sound some-
times come to be interchanged. This has very fre-
quently taken place in the case of stone and ton. Thus
Brigges-stan has been transmuted into BRIXTON, and
Brihtelmes-stan into Brighthelmstone, Brighthampton,
and BRIGHTON. The change from don to ton is also
common. Seccan-dun is now SECKINGTON,* and Beam-
^ Wilson, Pre-kistoric Man, voL ii. p. 43 1. An American is called
Boston^ and the ordinary salutation b Clakkohahyah, which is explained by
the fact that the Indians, frequently hearing a trader named Clark, long
resident in the Fort, addressed by his companions in the village, " Claris
how are you ? " imagined that this sentence was the correct English fonn of
salutation.
■ Burton, Mission to Gelelc, vol. i. p. 32.
* Yonge, Christian Names, voL i. p. 10.
^ The sailors' transformations of H.M.S. Bellerophm into the BSfy
Ruffian^ of the Andromache into the Andrew Mackay^ of the JEoius into
the Alehouse, of the Courageux into the Currant Juice, and of the steamer
Ilironddle into the Iron Demi, belong to another class of changes, which
we shall presently consider. See p. 387, infra,
» Sax, Chron, a.d. 755.
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IntercJiange of Suffixes — Tendency to Contraction, 381
dun is BAMPTON.i The suffix hithcy a haven, is changed
into ey^ an island, in the case of STEPNEY, formerly
Stebenhithe, and into heady in the case of Maidenhead,
formerly Maydenhithe. In CARISBROOK, which was
anciently Wihtgara-byrig, we have a change from burgh
to brook? The suffix in the name DURHAM is properly
not the Saxon ham^ but the Norse holniy and Dunelm —
the signature of the bishop — reminds us also that the
Celtic prefix is Dun^ a hill fort, and not Dur^ water.*
Many of these changes seem to be simply phonetic,
among which we may reckon Gravesham into GRAVES-
END, Edgeworth into EDGEWARE, Ebbsham into EPSOM,
Swanwick into SWANAGE, and Badecanwylla or Bath-
well into BAKEWELL. The great tendency is to con-
traction; as Home Tooke puts it, "letters, like soldiers,
being very apt to desert and dropoff in a long march."*
Thus we find Botolph's ton contracted into BO'STON,
Agmondesham into AMERSHAM, and Eurewic into
YORK. In London St. Olafs Street has been changed
intoTOOLEY Street, and in Dublin into TULLOCH Street.*
St Mary's Hall, Oxford, has been transformed into
Skimmery Hall, and this has been abbreviated into the
disrespectful appellation SKIM. St. Bridget is turned
into St. Bride, St. Benedict into St. Bennet, St. Etheld-
reda into St. Awdrey, St. Egidius into St. Giles.^ This
tendency to contraction is often to be detected in the
1 .SiMr. Chron, A.D. 614.
« See p. 307, supra,
» Durham is written Dnnholm in the Saxon Chronicle^ A,D. 1072.
4 Tooke, Diversions of Purley^ part L ch. vi. p. 94.
« Now pulled down. It was standing in the sixteenth century.
« Territorial surnames show still more startling changes. St.- Denys has
been corrupted into Sydney, St. Maur into Seymour, St. Paul into Semple,
Sevenoaks into Snooks, and St. John and St. Leger ore pronounced Sinjun
and Sillinger.
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382
CJianges and Errors.
pronunciation of names of which the more lengthened
form is retained in writing. Thus CIRENCESTER is pro-
nounced Cisester ; GLOUCESTER, Gloster ; WORCESTER,
Worster ; barfreestone, Barston ; and trotters-
CLIFFE, Trosley.^ In America, on the other hand,
owing to the universal prevalence . of reading, the
tendency is to pronounce words exactly as they are
spelt, and WORCESTER is pronounced Wor-ces-ter, and
ILLINOIS is called Illinoys.*
In endeavouring to recover the original forms of
names, it becomes important to discover the phonetic
tendencies which prevailed among different nations.
This is not the place to exhibit or discuss the laws of
phonetic change which have been detected ; ' all that
^ In Switzerland inghoftn is generally contracted into ikon^ as Benning'
hofen into Bennikon. Meyer, Ortsnamen, pp. 127" — 136.
9 In Samuel Rogers' youth every one said Lunnon ; we have now returned
to Lundun.
s '* Grimm's law," as it is called, enables us to identify cognate words in
the Teutonic and Romance languages. It is
In Greek and gene- \
rally in Sanskrit f
and Latin, thei
letters . . . )
/
b
PHM)
t
d
tm
k(c)
S
i*(x)
Correspond in )
Gothic to . . J
Ph{f)
P
b
th
t
d
kk{h^^
k
g
And in Old High )
German to . . j
b{v,f)
PHJ)
P
d
th{z)
t
g(h)
kk
k
The changes from the Latin to the modem Romance languages are more
simple. The chief correspondences are —
Latin . . .
/
b
/
V
e
9
g
J \
Romance Lan-)
guages . . 5
b,v
^J
h
b
g, ch, k,t,s
c.P
y,ij
^.d^y
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Plionetic Changes,
383
can here be attempted is to illustrate them by a few
characteristic instances.
The tendency among the German nations is to de-
velop the sibilants and gutturals; among the Romance
nations to suppress these and develop the mutes and
liquids. Thus in the name of the river Atesis or Atygis,
how harsh is the German name — the ETSCH ; how soft
and harmonious the Italian development of the same
word — the ADlGE. Again we may compare the German
lDttich with the French Li^GE, or we may contrast
the German change of Confluentes into COBLENTZ with
the soft effect produced even in cases when the Italians
have introduced sibilants, as in the change of Florentia
into FIRENZE, or Placentia into PIACENZA.
But the best illustration of these phonetic tendencies
will be to enumerate a few cases where the same root
has been variously modified by different nations. Let
us take the Latin word forum. The Forum Julii, in
Southern France, hcis become FRifijUS ; and, in Northern
Italy, the same name has been changed to FRIULI. In
the Emilia we find FORLI (Forum Livii), FOSSOMBRONE
Latin . . .
/
d
I
m
n
I
r
Romance Lan-">
giiagea . .J
d.t
hj\i,^,c
i,z,x
n
hr
r,n,lh
l,d
See Bopp, VergUick, Gramm,; Grimm, Geschtchte der Deut. Sprache^ vol. L
pp. 294 — ^434 ; Schleicher, Die Sprachen Europas ; Bunsen, Brit, Assoc.
Reports for 1847, p. 262 ; Edinb. Rev, vol. xciv. pp. 318, 319 ; Prichard,
Eastern Origin^ pp. 179—200; Mone,' Celt, Forschungen ; Donaldson,
Varronianus ; New CratyittSy pp. 144 — 190 ; Max Miiller, Lectures, second
series, pp. 198 — ^222; Pott, Etymol. Forschungen; Diez, Rom, Gram,
voL L pp. 175—253; Lewis, Romance Languages; Milman, Hist, Latin
Christianifyi voL vL p. 343.
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384 Changes and Errors,
(Forum Sempronii), FERRARA (Forum AUieni), and
FORNOVO (Forum Novum). In Central Italy we have
FORCASSI (Forum Cassii), FIORA (Forum Aurelii), FOR-
FIAMMA (Forum Flaminii), and FORLIMPOPOLI (Forum
Popilii).
With these compare the German name klagenfurt
(Claudii forum), the Dutch VOORBOURG (Forum Ha-
driani), the French FEURS (Forum Segusianorum), and
the Sardinian FORDONGIANUS (Forum Trajani).
Or let us take the changes effected in the Greek word
7roXt9, a city. Neapolis, in Italy, has become NAPLES,
in the Morea it has become NAUPLIA. Neapolis, near
Carthage, is now NABEL, and Neapolis, in Syria, is nIbu-
LUS or NABLtrs.^ TRIPOLI is little changed ; Amphipblis
is now EMBOLI, Callipolis is GALLIPOLI, Antipolis is
ANTIBES, Gratianopolis is GRENOBLE. STAMBOUL, or
ISTAMBOUL, the modern name of Byzantium, is not,
as might be imagined, a corruption of Constantinopolis,
but of h rav iro>uv? a phrase analogous to that which
we use when we speak of a journey to London, as going
" to town." In like manner STANKO, the modem name
of the Island of Cos, is a corruption of €9 rav Kj&?
1 Robinson, Biblical Researches^ vol. iii. pp. 96, 119.
' Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, p. 246 ; Leo, Vorlesungen, vol. i. p. 196.
s The same process of the incorporation of preposition and articles maj
be seen in zermat, an derm at. Many German names b^[inning with M
are due to am or im prefixed to Celtic names. Thus Oersberg has become
changed to marsberg, Eppenthal to meppenthal, Achenthal to machcn-
THAL. So with MOSBACH, MEICHES, and many othen. Mone, (Uli.
Forsch, pp. 157, 180. THAXTED is probably The Axstead, THISTLEWORTH
is The Istle-worth, atford and otford are At the ford, and abridgk is At
the bridge. Also in Spain the Arabic article Al is often incorporated into
the name. See p. 106, supra, luxor, one of the four villages which
stand on the site of ancient Thebes, is a contraction of £1 Eksor, the
palaces. Fairholt, Up the Nile^ p. 266.
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Phonetic Changes. 385
We find the word Trajectus in ATRECHT or ARRAS
(Atrebatum Trajectus), maestrecht (Mosae Trajectus),
and UTRECHT (Ultra Trajectum).^
The Romanized Celtic suffix iacum is changed into
ay in France and ach in Germany, while in Brittany and
Cornwall the original form is ordinarily retained.* Thus
Cortoriacum is now COURTRAY, Camaracum is CAMBRAY,
Bagacum is BAVAY, and Toumacum is TOURNAY. An-
tunacum is now ANDERNACH, Olimacum is LYMBACH,
Vallacum is WILNPACH, and Magontiacum is MAINTZ.
The manner in which personal names have entered
into the names of places has been referred to in a
previous chapter.' A few instances may be here again
enumerated as affording admirable illustrations of di-
verse phonetic tendencies. Thus the name of Augustus
is found in the Spanish ZARAGOSSA (Caesarea Augusta),
and BADAJOZ (Pax Augusta) ; in the Italian AOSTA
(Augusta) ; in the French AOUST (Augusta), AUCH
(Augusta), and AUTUN (Augustodunum) ; in the German
AUGSBURG (Augusta), and AUGST (Augusta) ; and the
English AUST passage (Trajectus Augusti). We find the
word Julius or Julia in LILLEBONNE (Julia Bona),
LOUDON (Juliodunum), in BJ5JA in Portugal (Pax Julia),
in jClich or JULIERS (Julicacum), in ZUGLIO (Julium),
and in FRIULI and FRijus (Forum Julii) ; and the name
of Constantius or Constantinus is found in CQNZ, COU-
1 The word trajectus may have sometimes been confounded with the
Celtic traeth^ sands. See Diefenbach, Origines Eitropaa, p. 429;
De Belloguet, Ethnog, p. 139; Ludlow, in Philolog, Trans, for 1857,
p. IS.
s E,g, Flabenec, Bourbriac, Loudeac, and Gourarec in Brittany, and
Bradock, Boconnoc, Isnioc, Ladock, Phillack, Polbathick, andj Polostoc
in Cornwall.
* See pp. 316, 317, supra.
C C
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386 Changes and Errors.
TANCES, C6TANTIN, CONSTANZ, and CONSTANTINOPLE.
Some additional changes, valuable as illustrating pho-
netic laws, are added in a note.^
The changes that have hitherto been discussed may
be considered as natural phonetic changes— changes
bringing combinations of letters from one language into
harmony with the laws of another.
We have now to consider a class of corruptions which
have arisen from a totally different cause. Men have
ever felt a natural desire to assign a plausible meaning
to names — ^to make them, in fact, no longer sounds, but
words. How few children, conning the atlas, do not
connect some fanciful speculations with such names as
the CALF OF MAN, or IRELAND'S EYE ; they suppose
that JUTLAND is the land which "juts out," instead of
the land of the Jutes ;* they suppose that Cape HORN
has received its name, not, as is the fact, from the birth-
place of its discoverer,' but because it is the extreme
southern horn of the American continent, and names
like the ORANGE River, or the RED Sea are, unhesi-
tatingly, supposed to denote the colour of the waters,
instead of being, the first a reminiscence of the extension
of the Dutch empire under the house of Orange, and
the second a translation * of the Sea of Edom.*
^ Eburovioes and Evreux, Vesontio and Besan^on, Vinovium and Bin-
Chester, Bononia and Boulogne, Chatti and Hease, Aquitania and Guienoe^
Olisippo and Lisbon, Agrigentum and Girgenti, Aletium and Lecd, Aqiue
and Aix. In French names a final » or j* b often added, as in the caae of
Dibio and Dijon, Matesco and Ma9on, Brigantio and Brian9on, Massilia and
Marseilles, Londinium and L^ondres.
« Trench, Study of Words^ p. 86.
> See p. 28, supra.
^ So the YELLOW SEA and palmyra are translated names. Magna, the
Roman station, is now Car-voran, from the Celtic vawr^ great.
^ Similar misconceptions are black H£ATK (bleak heath); the Isle of
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Erroneous Etymology, 387
This instinctive causativeness of the human mind, this
perpetual endeavour to find a reason or a plausible
explanation for everything, has corrupted many of the
words which we have in daily use,^ and a large allowance
for this source of error must be made when we are in-
vestigating the original forms of ancient names. No
cause has been more fruitful in producing corruptions
than popular attempts to explain from the vernacular,
and to bring into harmony with a supposed etymology,
names whose real explanation is to be sought in some
language known only to the learned.* Names, significant
in the vernacular, are constructed out of the ruins of
the ancient unintelligible names, just as we find the
Wight, see p. 307 ; Trinidad, p. 12 ; Gateshead, p. 253, supra, Florida is
not the flowery land, but the land discovered on Easter Day, Pascua florida,
p. 13. The FINSTER-AAR-HORN is not, as guidebooks tdl us, the peak of
the Black Eagle, but the peak which gives rise to the Glacier of the black
Aar.
' We may enumerate the well-known instances of buifetier corrupted into
beefeater, lustrino into lute-string, asparagus into sparrow-grass, coat-cards
into court-cards, shuttlecork into shuttlecock, mahlerstock into maulstick,
^crevisse into crayfish, dormeuse into dormouse, dent de lion into dandy
lion, quelques choses into kickshaws, contre danse into country dance, ver
de giis into verdigrease, weissager into wiseacre, and hausenblase or stur-
geon's bladder into isinglass. A groom used to call Othello and Desdemona
— ^two horses under his charge— by the names of Old Fellow and Thursday
Morning. The natives called Miss Rogers (authoress of ** Domestic Life
ill Palestine ") by the name of narijus, "the lily," as the nearest approxi-
mation to her name which they were able to pronounce. Ibrahim Pacha,
during his visit to England, was known to the mob as Abraham Parker.
See Whewell, in Pkilolog, Proceedings, vol. v. p. 138; Wedgwood, in
Philolog, Trans, for 1855, pp. 66—71 ; Wilton, Negeb, pp. 140, 218;
Farrar, Origin of Language^ pp. 57, 58; Mayhew, German Life and Man-
ners, vol. il p. 404 ; Dixon, Surnames, p. v. ; Trench, English Past and
Present, pp. 243—253 ; Study of Words, p. 87.
Erroneous etymologies are unfortunately by no means confined to the
unlearned. Witness Baxter's derivation of Kirkcudbright {i,e. Church
of St Cuthbert). It is, he %0iy^, forsan, Caer giu aber rlt, i>. Arx trajectus
fluminei i£stuarei ! ! Glossarium, p. 40.
c c 2 n \
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388 . Changes and Errors.
modern villages of Mesopotamia built of bricks stamped
with the cuneiform legend of Nebuchadnezzar.^
Teutonic nations, for instance, inhabiting a country
covered with ancient Celtic names, have unconsciously
endeavoured to twist those names into a form in which
they would be susceptible of explanations from Teutonic
sources. The instances are innumerable. The Celtic
words alt maen mean high rock. In the Lake District
this name has been transformed into the OLD MAN of
Coniston.^ In the Orkneys a conspicuous pyramid of
rock, 1,500 feet in height, is called the OLD MAN of Hoy ;
and two rocks on the Cornish coast go by the name
of the OLD MAN and his MAN. The DEAD MAN, another
Cornish headland, is an Anglicization of the Celtic dod
maen, brown willy, a Cornish ridge, some 1,370 feet
in height, is a corruption of Bryn Huely the tin-mioe
ridge.* Abermaw, the mouth of the Maw, is commonly
called BARMOUTH;* Kinedar has been changed into
KING EDWARD ; Dun-y-coed, a "wooded hill" in Devon-
shire, is now called the DUNAGOAT ; and EASTBOURNE
was, no doubt, the eas-bourne,* or water-brook ; the t
having crept in from a desire to make the Celtic prefix
significant in English.*
Similar transformations of Celtic and Sclavonic names
are to be found on the Continents In Switzerland the
^ See Edinburgh Review^ vol. xciv. p. 33 1.
» Davies, in Philolog. Trans, for 1855, p. 2 1 9.
s Welli, or wheal, which occurs so often in the mining share list, is %
corruption of the word hwl^ a tin mine.
4 Baxter, Glossarium^ p. 69.
» A reduplicated name. See p. 211, sufra,
• Gough's Camden, vol. i. p. 296.
'^ See a paper by Forstemann in Kuhn*s Zeitschrift, vol. i. p. 10^ sej. The
numerous instances given by Mone, in his Cdtische Forschungen, most be
received with caution.
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Transformation of Celtic and Saxon Names, 389
Celtic Vitodunim has been Germanized into WINTER-
THUR ; ^ Noviomagus is now NIMWEGEN ; Alcmana is
ALTMChl ; ^ and the FREUDENBACH, or joyful brook,
is, probably, a corruption of the QAXxc ffrydan^ a stream.*
The Sclavonic Potsdupimi has become POTSDAM, Melraz
is mCllrose, and Dubrawice DUMMERWITZ.*
Anglo-Saxon and Norse names have not escaped
similar metamorphoses. The name of MAIDENHEAD
has given rise to the myth that here was buried the
head of one of the eleven thousand virgins of Cologne,*
but Mayden hithe, the ancient form of the name, shows
that it was the wharf midway between Marlow and
Windsor. So MAIDSTONE and MAGDEBURG are not the
towns of maids, but the town on the Medway, and the
town on the plain,® HUNGERFORD, on the border between
the Saxons and the Angles, was anciently Ingleford, or
the ford of the Angles.^
Fitful head, in Shetland, familar to all readers of
the Waverley Novels as the abode of Noma in 'The
^ FSrstemann, AlUdeut, Namenbuchf rol. il p. 446.
« Forstemann, Ortsnamen^ P* 3^3*
s Forstemann, Ortsnamen^ p. 314. On the Gerauinization of Sclaironic
names see a paper by Bronisch in the Neues Lausitzisches Magazin,
vol. xvii. pp. 57—73-
* Mone, Celt. Forsch. p. 7. Mone thinks the oelbach, or oily brook,
is from the Irish oil, a stone, and that the teufelstein, or Devil's Stone,
is from the Celtic dnbhaUy the black rock. Ibid. p. 175.
* The Cologne myth of the eleven thousand viigins seems to have arisen
from the name of St Undecemilla, a virgin martyr. The insertion of a
single letter in the calendar has changed this name into the form, *' Undecem
millia Virg. Mart" The bones of the eleven thousand, which are reve-
rently shown to the pious pilgrim, have been pronounced by Professor Owen
to comprise the remains of all the quadrupeds indigenous to the district.
* See p. 232, supra. For the legends respecting the Mons Puellarum,
as Magdeburg was called, see Panzer, Deut, Myth. pp. 122, 272, 370.
7 Inglefield, in the immediate neighbourhood, has retained the ancient
form. See Gongh's Camden, vol. i. p. 215.
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390 Changes and Errors.
Pirate/ has received its present not inappropriate name,
by reason of a misconception of the original Scandi-
navian name HviUfell, the white hill ;^ CAPE wrath,
beaten, it is true, by wrathful storms, was originally
Cape Hvarfy a Norse name, indicating a point where the
land trends in a new direction ;^ and the Norse Vedra-
fiordr^ the firth of Rams (wethers), is now WATERFORD
in Ireland*
In the Lake District we also find some curious trans-
formations of Norse Names, silly wreay is the happy
nook, CUNNING GARTH is the King's Yard, CANDY
SLACK is the bowl-shaped hollow.^
As might have been expected, French and Norman
names in England have been peculiarly liable to suflTer
from these causes. ChAteau Vert, in Oxfordshire, has
been converted into SHOTOVER Hill ; Beau chef into
BEACHY Head ; and Burgh Walter^ the castle of Walter
of Douay, who came over with the Conqueror, now
appears in the form of bridgewater. Beau lieu in
Monmouthshire, Grand font, the great bridge over the
Fal in Cornwall, and Bon gu^y or the good ford, in
Suffolk, have been Saxonized into BEWLEY Woods,
GRAMPOUND,* and BUNGAY. Leighton BeaU'd^s€rt\i^s
been changed into LEIGHTON BUZZARD ; and the brazen
eagle which forms the lectern in the parish church is
gravely exhibited by the sexton to passing strangers as
the original buzzard from which the town may be sup-
posed to derive its name.*^
^ Symington, Faroe and Iceland^ p. 8.
3 Laing, Ileimskringia, voL i. p. 144.
s Cf. Mealy Sike, Heedless GiU, &c Feiguson, Northmen^ p. 1261
4 Gough^s Camden, vol. l p. 20.
B The French colony of Beauregard, in Brandenburg, has been Ger-
manized intoBURENGAREN or Bauemgartcn (peasants' garden). ForstemaBD,
in Kuhn's Zeitschrift, vol. i. p. 21.
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Transformation of French Names. 391
In Canada, where an English speaking population la
encroaching on the old French settlers, the same process
of verbal translation is going on. " Les Ch^neaux," or
channels, on the River Ottawa, are now the SNOWS. So
" Les Chats" and "Les Joachims" on the same river are
respectively becoming the SHAWS and the sw ASKINGS,
while a mountain near the head of the bay of Fundy,
called the "Chapeau Dieu," from the cap of cloud
which often overhangs it, is now known as the
SHEPODY Mountain. The River Quah-Tah-Wah-Am-
Quah-Duavic in New Brunswick, probably the most
breakjaw compound in the Gazetteer, has had its name
justifiably abbreviated into the Petamkediac, which has
been further transformed by the lumberers and hunters
into the TOM KflDGWICK.^
Anse des Cousins, the Bay of Mosquitoes, has been
turned by English sailors into NANCY COUSINS Bay;
they have changed Livorno into LEG-HORN ; and the
nautical mind has canonized a new saint, unknown even
to the BoUandists, by the change of Setubal into ST.
UBES. So Hagenes, the Norse name of one of the Scilly
Isles, has become ST. AGNES.^ Soracte, the mountain
whose snowy summit is sung by Horace,^ has been
added to the list of saints by the Italian peasantry, and
receives their prayers under the name of ST. ORESTE.*
The name and legend of ST. GOAR, who is said to have
dwelt in a cavern on the Rhine, where the river furiously
eddies round the Lurlei rock, is supposed by certain
1 Hon. Arthur Gordon, in Vacation Tourists for 1862-3, p. 484;
Quarterly ReineWf voL cxvi. p. 27,
« Times, March 26th, 1864.
» Vides, ut alta stet nive candidum Soracte.
< Duke of Buckingham, Private Diary, vol. iii. p. 171 ; Whewell, in
Fhilolog, Proceedings, vol. v. p. 141.
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392 Changes and Errors.
sceptics to have originated in a corruption of the German
word gewirr, sl whirlpool.^ In this instance it is not
improbable that the hagiologists may be right and the
philologists wrong. The name of a well-known saint is
sometimes substituted for one less familiar. Thus St
Aldhelm's Head, in Dorset, has become ST. alban'S
HEAD.^ Occasionally the name of the saint apparently
disappears, submerged beneath some obtrusively tempt-
ing etymology, as in the case of St. Maidulf 's borough,
which has become MARLBOROUGH.
The Hebrew name JERUSALEM was reproduced under
the form Hierosolyma^ the holy city of Solomon, owing
to a mistaken derivation from the Greek Upo^, A
mountain on the eastern coast of Africa, opposite Aden,
received the Arabic name of GEBEL FIEL (elephant
mountain), from the remarkable resemblance of the
outline to the back of the elephant From the re-
semblance of the sound the name was corrupted in the
Periplus into Mons Felix.*
Many instances may be cited of the manner in which
legends are prone to gather round these altered names.
The citadel of Carthage was called BOZRA, a Phoenician
word meaning an acropolis. The Greeks connected this
with /Si^po-a, an ox-hide, and then, in harmony with the
popular notions of Tyrian acuteness, an explanatory
^ Mayhew, German Life and Manners^ vol. ii. pp. 370^ 398.
■ Farrar, Origin of Language, p. 59. The process of the creation of
new saints is illustrated by the case of the eleven thousand virgins (see
p. 389, supra), as well as by that of St Veronica, whose name arose finom a
transposition of the letters of the mongrel phrase vera icon. See WheweU,
in Pkilolog, Proceed, vol. v. p. 141 ; Yonge, Christian Na$n€s^ vol L
p. 424-
' Trench, English Past and Present, p. 237 ; Farrar, Origin of Lang.
p. 59.
* Buckingham, Autobiography, vol. iL p. 395,
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Myths evolved from Names. 393
legend was concocted, which told how the traders, who
had received permission to possess as much land as an
ox-hide would cover, cut the skin into narrow strips,
with which they encompassed the spot on which the
Carthaginian fortress was erected.^
We find the same legend repeated in the traditions
of other countries. The name of THONG castle, near
Sittingboume, is derived from the Norse word tunga^ a
tongue of land, which we find in the Kyle of Tongue in
Sutherlandshire. This name has given rise to the tradi-
tion, that Dido's device was here repeated by Hengist
and Horsa. The same story is told of Ivar, son of
R^^nar Lodbrok, in order to account for the name of
THONG CASTOR, near Grimsby.*
The legend of the victory gained by Guy of Warwick,
the Anglian champion, over the dun cow, most probably
originated in a misunderstood tradition of his conquest
of the Dena gau^ or Danish settlement in the neighbour-
hood of Warwick.*
The name of ANTWERP denotes, no doubt, the town
which sprang up '* at the wharf." But the word Ant-
werpen approximates closely in sound to the Flemish
handt werpeUy hand throwing. Hence arose the legend
of the giant who cut off the hands of those who
passed his castle without paying him black mail, and
threw them into the Scheldt*
* Bochart, voL iii. p. 470 ; Trench, English Past and Present^ p. 238.
* The legend is found also among the Thnringians and the Russians.
Grimm, Deut, Rechtsalt p. 90, apud Pictet, Orig, Indo-Europ, part ii. p. 51 ;
Latham, ChanndlsUs, p. 338; Cough's Camden, voL ii p. 338 ; Verstegan,
Resiituiion^ p. 133 ; Skinner, Etymol, s. v.
* Donaldson, English Ethnography^ p. 54.
* Motley, Dutch Republic^ vol. i p. 711 ; Salvcrte, Essai sur les Noms,
vol. ii. p. 294 ; Chamock, Local Etymology^ p. 14. The giant was killed
by Brabo, the eponymus of Brabant.
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394 Changes and Errors.
The legend of the, wicked Bishop Hatto is well known.
It has been reproduced by Southey in a popular ballad,
and it is annually retailed and discussed on the decks of
the Rhine steamers. At a time of dearth he forestalled
the corn from the poor, but was overtaken by a righteous
Nemesis — having been devoured by the swarming rats,
who scaled the walls of his fortress in the Rhine. The
origin of this legend may be traced to a corruption of
the name of the maut-thurm^ or custom-house, into the
mAUSE-THURM, or Mouse-tower.^
The story of Roland the crusader, and his hapless
love for the daughter of the Lord of Drachenfels, is
perhaps a still greater favourite with the fairer portion
of the Rhine tourists. It is sad to have to reject the
pathetic tale, but a stern criticism derives the name of
ROLANDSECK from the rolling waves of the swift current
at the bend of the river, which caused the place to be
called the rollendes-ecke by the passing boatmen.*
Near Grenoble is a celebrated tower, which now bears
the name of la TOUR SANS VENIN, the tower without
poison. The peasantry firmly believe that no poisonous
animal can exist in its neighbourhood. The superstition
has arisen from a corruption of the original saint-name
of San Verena into sans venin? The superstitions which
avouch that birds fall dead in attempting to fly across
the DEAD SEA and the LAKE AVERNUS {aopvo^ have
originated in similar etymological fancies.
In the Swedish language a woman is called quinna^ or
quimty a word nearly allied to the obsolescent English
^ Forstemann, in Kuhn's ZeUschrift Jur Vergieich, Sprackforschsng^
vol. i. p. 6.
* Mayhew, Gertnan Life and Manners^ voL ii. p. 405,
' Max Miiller, Lectures, 2d series, p. 368.
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Myths evolved from Names. 395
word quean} as well as to the appellation of the highest
lady in the land. The Finns also call themselves
Qvcens, a Euskarian word, which is no way related to
the Teutonic root. The misunderstood assertions of
travellers as to this nation of Qvcens gave rise to the
legend respecting a tribe of Northern Amazons ruled
over by a woman. This myth must have come into
existence even so early as the time of Tacitus, and we
find it repeated by the geographer of Ravenna, by King
Alfred, and by Adam of Bremen.^ The last-named writer
confuses all our notions of ethnological propriety by the
assertion that there are Turks to be found in Finland.
He has evidently been misled by the fact that Turku was
the ancient enchorial synonym for the city of Abo.^
PiLATUS, the mountain which overhangs Lucerne,
takes its name from the cap of cloud which frequently
collects round this western outlier of the mountains of
Uri. The name has originated the poetic myth of the
banished Pilate, who, torn by remorse, is said to have
haunted the rugged peak, and at last to have drowned
himself in the lonely tarn near the summit of the
mountain.*
Drepanum, now TRAPANI, in Sicily, was so called from
the sickle-shaped curve of the sea-shore — Spiiravov, a
sickle. A Greek legend, preserved by Pausanias, affirms
-^ Gay speaks of "the dread of every scolding quean."
* "Circa hsec litora Baltici maris ferunt esse Amazonas, quod nunc terra
feminarum dicitur," &c Adam of Bremen, De situ Danice, p. 15. See
also Zeuss, Du Detttschen^ p. 687 ; Prichard, Researches^ vol. iii. p. 273 ;
Latham, Nationalities of Europe^ vol. i. p. 164 ; Latham, Gennania^ p. 174 ;
Buckle, Hist, of Civilisation^ vol. i. p. 275.
* De situ Dania, p. 1 1 ; Cooley, Hist, of Maritime and Inland Discovery,
voL L p. 211 ; Buckle, Hist, of Civilit. vol. i. p. 275.
* Salverte, Essai sur les Noms, vol. ii. p. 291 ; Murray, Handbook for
Stxriizerland, p. 39.
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ig6 Changes and Errors.
that the name is a record of the fact that it was here
Kronos threw away the sickle with which he had killed
Uranos.^ And various myths have clustered round the
river LYCUS, as if it had been the Wolf river (Xi;ico9, a
wolf) instead of the White river (Xcvaco?, white), as is
no doubt the case.*
The names of countries and nations have often suffered
in this way. The Celtic name Pehta, or Peicta, "the
fighters/* has been Latinized into PICTI, the painted
savages of the Scottish Lowlands.^ In the case of the
Berbers, a people in Northern Africa, the ^in the enchorial
name seems to have been changed into an a, from a
desire to establish a connexion with the Greek word
jSdplSapoi, and the name of BARBARY still remains on our
maps to remind us of the error.*
A similar instance of the change of a single letter in
accordance with a fancied etymology occurs in the case
of the TATAR hordes, which, in the thirteenth century,
burst forth from the Asiatic steppes. This terrible in-
vasion was thought to be a fulfilment of the prediction
of the opening of the bottomless pit, spoken of in the
ninth chapter of the Revelation, and in order to bring
^ Movers, PAonizigr, pL ii. vol. il p. 312 ; Welsford, English Language,
p. 194.
> So around the name of the Lycian Apollo, the light-giver, have col-
lected mythologic legends of the wolf-destroyer. Miiller, DorianSy voL L
p. 315.
• See p. 81, supra ; Trench, Sfudy of Words, p. 86.
* See p. 61, supra ; Barth, Travds, vol. i. p. 124 ; Movera, DiePhonisitr,
pt. ii. vol. ii. pp. 390, 391 ; cf. Gibbon, Decline and Fall, vol. vi p. 427,
chap. Ii. The name of the Berbers is found in an ancient Egyptian inscrip-
tion. Kenrick, Ancient Egypt, vol. ii. p. 248. In the time of Herodotus
the word fidpfioftoi was i4>plied to all nations who spoke languages onintdli-
gible to the Greeks. Afterwards it was restricted to all tribes beyond
the pale of the Roman empire, and is now confined to certain tribes of
northern Africa.
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Polandn^Mussulman — Negropont 397
the name into relation with Tartarus, the word Tatar
was written, and still continues to be written, in the
form Tartar?-
Our English name of POLAND is likewise founded on
a misconception. The country consists of vast plains,
and from the Sclavonic polky a plain, is derived the
German plural form Polen or Pohlen, the men of the
plains. In the old English writers we meet with the
name Polayn, which is an admissible Anglicization of
the German word. But the more recent change of
Polayn into Poland is due to the desire of substituting
an intelligible word for an unintelligible sound. The
correct formation, following the analogous case of Switz-
erland, would be Polenland.
So the Arabic MOSLEM IN, already a plural form, has
been corrupted into Mussulman, which is taken for a sin-
gular, and from which have been formed those anomalous
double plurals — Mussulmen and Mussulmans.*
Negropont, the modem name of the island of
JEubcea, is a corruption due, probably, to Genoese and
Venetian mariners. The channel dividing the island
from the mainland was anciently called Euripus, in
allusion to the swiftness of the current ; and at one
time the land on either side projected so far as nearly
to bridge the space between the two shores. The town
built at this spot received the name of the channel, and
was called Evripo, or Egripo, a name which has been
1 Plebs Sathanse detestanda Tartaroniin . . . exeuntes ad instar dae-
xDonum solutorum \ tartaro, ut bene Tartari, quasi tartarei nuncupentur.
Matt Paris, HUt Major, p. 546, A.D. 1240. See p. 81, supra; Prichard,
/Researches, vol. iv. p. 278; Wedgwood, mPhUolog. Trans, for 1855, p. 72;
Edinburgh Rev. vol. xciv. p. 308 ; Trench, English Past and Present,
p. 239 ; Buckle, Hist, of Civilization, vol. I p. 288.
• See Forstemann, in Kuhn*s Zeitschrift, vol. L p. 17.
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'398 Changes and Errors.
converted by Italian sailors into Negripo, or NEGROPONT,
the *' black bridge;" and, finally, the name of the town
was extended to the whole island. ^
Some of the most curious transformations which have
been effected by popular attempts at etymologizing are
those which have taken place in the names of the streets
of London.
Sheremoniers Lane was so called from being the
dwelling-place of the artizans whose business it was to
shear or cut bullion into shape, so as to be ready for the
die. The name, as its origin became forgotten, passed
into Sheremongers Lane, and after a while, from the
vicinity of St. Paul's Cathedral, and an analogy with
Amen Corner, Ave Maria Lane, and Paternoster Row,
it became SERMON Lane.* After the loss of Calais and
its dependencies, the artizans of Hames and Guynes,
two small towns in the v^icinity of Calais, took refuge in
England. A locality in the east of London was assigned
for their residence, and this naturally acquired the name
of the old home from which they had been expelled,
and was called Hames et Guynes. The vicinity of the
place of execution on Tower Hill probably suggested
the change of the name to HANGMAN'S GAINS.* Among
many similar changes we may enumerate that of the
1 Talbot, English Etymologies^ p. 53 ; Salverte, Essai sur la Nfims,
vol. ii. p. 301 ; Bremer, Greece, vol, ii. p. 89. So also the name of the
MOREA seems to have arisen from a transposition of the letters of Romea,
the ancient name. The usual explanation is that the name Morea is due to
the resemblance of the peninsula in shape of a mulberry leaf. This is too
abstract an idea, and it argues a knowledge of geographical contour whidi
would hardly be possessed by the mediaeval sailors among whom the name
arose. See Salverte, Essai sur les Noms, vol. ii. p. 305.
• Cunningham, Handbook of London, p. 734.
' Stow, Survey^ book v. p. 299 ; Cunningham, Handbook^ p. 3<^.
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Street Names. 399
Convent of the Chartreuse into the chartered school now
called the CHARTER HOUSE. Guthurun Lane, which
takes its name from some old Danish burgher, has become
GUTTER Lane, the change having been, doubtless,
suggested by the defective condition of the drainage.
Grasschurch Street, where the old grass market was held,
became — first. Gracious Street, and then GRACECHURCH '
Street. Knightengild Lane has become NIGHTINGALE
Lane, Mart Lane is now changed to MARK Lane, Des-
mond Place to DEADMAN's Place, Snore Hill to SNOW
Hill, Candlewick Street to CANNON Street, Strype's
Court to TRIPE Court, Leather Hall to leadenhall,
Cloister Court, Blackfriars, to GLOSTER Court, Lomes-
bury to BLOOMSBURY, St. Olave's Street to TOOLEY
Street,^ St. Osyth's Lane to SISE Lane, St. Peter's-ey to
BATTERSEA, and Stebenhithe to STEPNEY.*
In New York there is a square called GRAMMERCY
SQUARE, a name popularly supposed to be of French
origin. But the true etymology is indicated in one of
1 Compare the name of TIBBS Row, in Cambridge, a corruption of St.
Ebbe's Row.
' The curious transformations in the signs of inns have often been com-
mented upon. For instance, we have the change of the Belle Sauvage to
the Bell and Savage ; the Pige washael, or the Virgin's greeting, to the Pig
and Whistle; the Boulogne Mouth, ue. the mouth of Boulogne harbour,
the scene of a naval victory, to the Bull and Mouth ; the Bacchanab to the
Bag o' Nails ; the vintnei's sign of the Swan with two Nicks to the Swan
with two Necks ; and the Three Gowts (sluices) in Lincoln, to the Three
Goats. Mr. Wedgwood, however, in a paper in the Transactions of the
Philologkal Society for 1855, pp. 62 — 72, is inclined to hold as apocryphal
8ome of the cases usually cited. Cf. Whewell, in PhU, Proc. vol. v. p. 140 ;
Timbs, Curiosities of London^ pp. 397—402 ; Taylor, Antiquitates Curiosa^
p. 60 ; Cunningham, Handbook. Cf. also the change of the name of the
Ittst-garten, or tea-garden, called Philomeles lust^ nightingales' delight, into
Viellmanris lust^ many men's delight Forstemann, in Kuhn*s Zeitschrift^
ToLi. p. 21.
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400 Changes and Errors.
the old Dutch maps, in which we find that the site is
occupied by a pond called De Kromnu Zee^ the crooked
lake.
In addition to the corruptions already considered,
there are misnomers which are due to mistakes or
misconceptions on the part of those by whom the names
were originally bestowed. Prominent among these is
one which has been already referred to, and which has
bestowed the name of Amerigo Vespucci upon the
continent which Columbus had discovered. The names
of the WEST INDIES, and of the RED INDIANS of North
America, are due to the sanguine supposition of Colum-
bus that his daring enterprise had in truth been rewarded
by the discovery of a new passage to the shores of India.
The name of CANADA is due to a mistake of another
kind. Canada is the enchorial word for **a village."
When the French explorers first sailed up the St
Lawrence, it would seem that, pointing to the land, they
asked its name, while the natives thought they inquired
the name given to the collected wigwams on the shore,
and replied Canada.^
A notable instance of a name arising from an errone-
ous ethnological guess occurs in the case of the GIPSIES.
Their complexion, their language, and many of their
customs, prove them to be a Turanian tribe which has
wandered from the hill-country of India. Dr. Wilson,
an Indian missionary, found some gipsies in Palestine
1 Notes and Queries^ vol. ii. p. 428 ; Cooley, History of MariHmi mtd
Inland Discaveryy voL iu p. 140 ; Chamock, Local Etymol. p. 58 ; Dimke,
Book of the Indians^ book i. p. 23. The etymology from the Indian wofds
kan^ mouth, and ada^ a country, has also been suggested. The etymology
from the Portuguese ca nada, " Here is nothing," has been gravely pro-
posed ! This Portuguese exclamation is supposed to express the disap-
pointment of the French discoverers at the desolate aspect of the country.
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T}ie Gipsies. 401
with whom he could converse in one of the dialects of
Western India. When they appeared in Europe in
the beginning of the fifteenth century, their dark com-
plexion and their unknown language seem to have sug-
gested the erroneous ethnological guess that they were
Egyptians, a word which has been corrupted into
Gipsies. Their own name for themselves, ROMANI, indi-
cates their temporary sojourn in the " Roman " colony
of Wallachia.^ A belief that they came immediately
from Eastern Europe is also implied by the French name
BOHi^iENS, unless, indeed, as has been suggested, the
name Bohemian be derived from an old French word
boem, a Saracen.^ The Danes and Swedes regard them
as Tatars, the Dutch call them HEIDEN or Heathen, the
Spaniards call them GITANOS, (Gentiles,*) and the Ger-
mans and Italians call them ZIGANAAR, ZIGEUNER, or
ZINGARI, that is, the wanderers.*
^ See p. 57, supra, note.
* In Germany they are popularly regarded as Saracens. Pott, Zigeuner^
voL i. p. 30.
8 Or, perhaps, a corruption of the name Egyptians. Pott, Zigeuner^
voL i. p. 31.
* See Buyers, Northern India, p. 151 — 153; Gardner, Brazil, p. 147;
/^rentier Lands of the Christian and the Turk, voL i. p. 385 ; Trench, Study
0/ Words, p. 86 ; Pott, Die Zigeuner in Europa und Asien, vol. i. p. 58 ;
Prichard, Researches, vol. iv. p. 616.
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402 Words derived front Places.
CHAPTER XVI.
WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES.
Growth of Words out of names — Process of TransformcUion — Exampla ;
cherry^ peachy chestnut^ toalnut, quince^ damson^ Guernsey lify, currant,
shallot, coffee, cocoa, and rhubarb — Tobacco — Names of vtines and liqueurs
"—Gin, negus, and grog — Names of animals : turk^, ermine, sable — Breeds
of horses — Fish — Names of Minerals ; loadstone, magnet, agate, jet, nitre,
ammonia — Textile fabrics—Manufartures of the Arabs : muslin, damask,
gauze, fustian — Manufactures of the Flemings: cambric, diaper, duck,
ticking, frieze — Republics of Northern Italy — Cravats — Worsted — Names
of vehicles — The coach — Names of weapons — Indentions called from, the
name of the inventor— Pasquinade, punchy harlequin, charlatan, vaude-
ville— Mythical derivations — Names of coins — Moral sigftificance attacked
to v.H}rds derived from Ethnic Names — Examples ; Gothic, bigot, cretiUj
frank, romance, gasconade, lumber, ogre, fiend, slave— A^ames of servile
Paces — Tariff— Cannibal — Assassin — Spruce — Words derived from the
practice of Pilgrimage: saunter, roam, canter ^ fiacre, tawdry^ fiask —
History of the word palace.
All local names were once words. This has been the
text of the preceding chapters ; we have hitherto been
endeavouring to make these words — long dumb — once
more to speak out their meaning, and declare the lessons
which they have to teach. We now come to the con-
verse proposition. Many words were once local names.
We find these words in all stages of the process of
metamorphosis — some unchanged — some so altered as
to be scarcely recognisable. In fact, it is only by
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Etymological Botany. 403
watching the process of transmutation in actual pro-
gress in the linguistic laboratory of Nature that we are
able to trace the identity of some of the products, so
strangely are they altered.
Let us take a few familiar instances. So short a time
has elapsed since the introduction of French beans or
Brussels' sprouts, that the names have undergone no
phonetic changes — the information which they convey
needs no interpreter. We may now proceed to an
analogous case where the first stage in the transforma-
tion of names into words has already commenced. We
have almost ceased to speak of Swede turnips, Ribstone
pippins^ or Savoy cabbages, but the adjectives Swede,
Ribstone, and Savoy have already become substantives,
and the farmer talks of his SWEDES and the gardener of
his RIBSTONES and his SAVOYS. In these instances the
words themselves have as yet remained uncorrupted;
but in the case of the cherries called MAYDUKES a
further process of transformation has taken place. The
word Mayduke is a corruption or Anglicization of the
name Medoc, a town in the Gironde, from which these
cherries were introduced.^ But the word CHERRY is
itself a local name, still more disguised, since it has
passed through the alembic of two or three languages
instead of one. The English word Cherry, the German
jlirf^e, and the French Cerise^ all come to us from the
Greek, through the Latin, and inform us that this fruit
was first introduced from Cerasus,* a town on the Black
Sea.
First grown in the Garden of Ribstone Hall in the West Riding.
• Sankey, Port/euilU^ p. 52.
' Compare the Armenian geras, and the Persian cardsiyka,
* Now, probably, Kheresoun. See, however, Pictet, Orig. Indo-Europ,
part i. p. 244.
D D 2 n \
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404 Words derived from Places,
We shall find it instructive thus to examine the names
of a few of our common plants and animals, with the
double object of tracing historically the process by
which words become disguised, and of showing the aid
which etymology is able to render to the naturalist
To begin with the PEACH. This word, like Cherry,
has had an adventurous life, and has retained still less
resemblance to its original form, the initial / alone re-
maining to remind us of the native country of the peach.
The English word is derived immediately from the
old French pesche. The j, which has been dropped ^in
the English form, gives us a clue to the origin of the
word ; and when we find that the Italian name is pesca
or persictty the Spanish persigo, and the Latin pcrsicum,
we discover that the peach is a Persian fruit^ The
Nectarine comes also from the same region, but tells us
its story in a different way. The name is itself a Persian
word, meaning " the best" kind of peach ; and the Latin
name of Apricots,^ mala armeniaca, refers them to a
neighbouring district.
The CHESTNUT is often improperly spelt chesnut, as
if it were the cheese-like nut. But the mute /, which
could never have crept into the word, whatever may be
the danger of its ultimate disappearance, is valuable as
an indication of the true etymology, as well as of the
country in which the tree was indigenous. The French
CMtaigfte or Chastaigney and still more plainly the
Italian Castagnay and the Dutch Kastanie, point us to
Castanaea, in Thessaly, as its native place.*
1 Talbot, English Etymologus^ p. 475 ; Diez, Eiym, Wbrtcrb, p. 259.
Compare the Dutch namt persikboom,
* Abricot is an Arabic word. For its curious history see Engelmaim,
GiossairCy p. 13,
• See, however, Pictet, Orig. Indo-Europ. part L p. 249.
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Peach — CJtestnut — Walnut — Quince. 405
The London urchins, whose horticultural studies have
been confined to Covent Garden, probably suppose that
the WALNUT is a species of Wallfruit. In German,
however, the word takes the form SQBalfc^c 9lu^, which
would indicate that it is either the foreign nut, or the
nut from Walschland or Italy.^ Though the former is,
perhaps, the more probable etymology, yet we must
remember that the walnut is pre-eminently the tree of
Northern Italy, as will be acknowledged by all who
have rested beneath the spreading shade of the gigantic
walnut-trees of the Piedmontese valleys, or who have
crossed the wide plains of Lombardy, where the country
for miles and miles is one vast walnut orchard, with
the vines swinging in graceful festoons from tree to
tree.
The word QUINCE preserves only a single letter of
its original form. The English word is a corruption of
the French coing? which we may trace through the
Italian cotogna to the Latin cotonium or cydonium ma-
lum, the apple of Cydon, a town in Crete.
The cherry, the peach, the quince, and the chestnut
are very ancient denizens of Western Europe. Not so
the DAMSON, which was only imported a few centuries
ago. If we write the word according to the older and
more correct fashion — damascene — ^we are able at once
1 See p. 62, supra ; Talbot, Engiisk Etymol. p. 307 ; Max Miiller, Lec-
tures, 2nd series, p. 367. Compare the Anglo-Saxon wealk-hnuty and the
Old Norse val-hnot
* See the *' Romaunt of the Rose" :—
** And many homely trees there were
That peaches, coinesy and apples here ;
Medlers, plunmies, peeres, chesteines,
Cherise, of which many one faine is."
This passage also exhibits chestnut and cherry in a transitional stage of
adoption from the French.
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4o6 Words derived from Places,
to trace its identity with the Prtinum Damascenuniy or
plum from Damascus.^ The DAMASK ROSE came from
the same city in the reign of Henry VII. and we learn
how rapidly the culture of the beautiful flower must
have extended from the fact, that in less than a century
Shakespeare talks of the damask cheek of a rosy maiden,
showing that the name had already become an English
word.^
The science of etymological botany has its pitfalls,
which must be avoided. The GUELDER ROSE, for instance,
is not, as might be supposed, the rose from Guelderland,
but the elder rose, as is shown by the natural affinities
of the plant, as well as by the ancient spelling of the
name.^ An attempt to give a geographical significance
to the name has probably led to the modification of the
spelling. The same cause has undoubtedly been at
work in corrupting the name of the girasole — ^the Italian
turnsole or sunflower — into the JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE,
out of which some ingenious cook has concocted Pales-
tine soup ! *
The name of the GUERNSEY LILY contains a some-
what curious history. The flower is a native of Japan,
where it was discovered by Kaempfer, the Dutch botam'st
and traveller. The ship which contained the specimens of
the new plant was wrecked on the coast of Guernsey, and
some of the bulbs having been washed ashore, they germi-
nated and spread in the sandy soil. Thence they were
sent over to England, in the middle of the seventeenth
1 The greengage was introduced by one Gage, belonging to an old Suf-
folk family of that name. Borrow, Wild Walts^ voL il p. 99.
« See Whewell, in Philolog, Proceed, vol. v. p. 136.
» Talbot, Engiish Etymologies, p. 88.
4 Max Miiller, Lectures, second series, p. 368.
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Currant — Coffee — Cocoa, 407
century, by Mr. Hatton, a botanist, and son of the
Governor of Guernsey.^
The small dried grapes called CURRANTS were, in the
last century, called "corinths," or Corinth grapes, Corinth
being the chief port from which they were shipped. The
currants of our gardens seem to have received their
name from their superficial resemblance to the currants
of commerce.
The SHALLOT, a species of onion, comes to us from
Ascalon, as will appear if we trace the name through
the French form khalottey and the Spanish escalona, to
the Latin Ascalonia? SPIN AGE is, perhaps, olus Hispa-
nicuniy and the Arabs call it Hispanachy the Spanish
plant.^ COFFEE has been traced to the mountains of
Caffa, south of Abyssinia, where the plant grows wild ;
and MOCHA,* where it was first cultivated, still gives a
name to the choicest growth. In like manner BOHEA,
CONGOU, HYSON and SOUCHONG are geographical terms
on a map of China. JALAP comes from Xalapa, or Jalapa,
a province of Mexico. Another Mexican province, Choco,
has given us the names of CHOCOLATE and CACAO. The
coco or cocoa nut, however, has no botanical * or etymo-
1 Beckmann, History of Inventions^ voL i. p. 516; Ansted, Channel
Islands^ p. 499.
• Diez, Etymolog. Wbrterb, p. 305 ; Menage, Origines^ pp. 278, 786.
' Or, perhaps, the name is derived from the spines on the seed. See
Beckmann, Hist, of Inventions^ voL ii p. 340 ; Notts and Queries^ voL xii.
p. 253.
^ Hartwig, Tropical World, p. 189.
■ The cacao, or cocoa nibs, which produce the beverage, are beans borne
in the pods of a shrub, (Theobroma cacao,) which has no resemblance or
affinity to the palm-tree, (Cocos nucifera,) which produces the coco nut, or
to the coca or coco { Erythroxylon coca,) a herb whose leaves are chewed
by the Peruvians, as a powerful stimulant-narcotic. The distinctive spel-
ling of these three productions, cacao, cocoa, and coca should be carefully
observed. See Burton, Abeokuia, vol. I p. 47.
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4o8 Words derived from Places.
logical connexion with cacao. The Portuguese term
for a bugbear is coco, and the word seems to have been
applied to the palm nut on account of the appearance
of a mask or face which is produced by the three holes
at the extremity of the shell.^ CAYENNE, CHILIS,
SEVILLE and CHINA oranges, PERUVIAN bark, and
BRAZIL nuts are examples of names that have remained
undisguised by etymological changes. The brazil
WOOD of commerce does not, however, as might have
been thought, derive its name from the country ; but, on
the contrary, that vast empire was so called from the
discovery on its shores of a dye wood,^ which produced
the Brazil colour, or colour of glowing coals.^ The slopes
of Sinai were formerly overgrown with the SENEH, or
wild acacia-tree, a shaggy thorn-bush ; and it is more
probable that the plant takes its name from the moun-
tain than the mountain from the plant* SQUILLS are
possibly from Squillace, and CARRAWAYS, Pliny tells us,
are from Caria. RHUBARB is a corruption of Rha
barbarunty or Rha barbaricum (German Rliabarber^
Italian Rabarbaro), the root from the savage banks of
the River Rha, or Volga.^ DRAGONWORT is a curiously
1 Marsh, Lectures on English Langtioge^ p. 143.
• The Casalpinia crista^ which grows profusely in the forests of BiazU*
Hartwig, Tropical Worlds p. 240.
' The word brazil is found in our literature as early as the reign of
Edward I. Talbot, English Etymologies ^ p. 451 ; Hinchliff, South American
SketcheSy p. 232. French braise, Portuguese braza, live coals. Hence the
English braser, sometimes improperly written brasier, a vessel for containing
live coals.
* Stanley, Jewish Church, p. 108; Sinai a?ul Palestine, p. 18. Cf. Greek
fiAppa—irfi6pva, myrrh.
Huic Rha vicinus est amnis, in cujus superciliis quxdam vegetabilis
ejusdem nominis gignitur radix, proficiens ad usus multiplices medelarum.
Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xxii. cap. 8, § 28. See MuUer, Ugrisckt
Volkstamm, vol. ii. p. 87.
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Tobacco, 409
corrupted name. It comes from Tarragona in Spain.
The word TAMARIND is from the Arabic tdmarliendiy
which means the Indian date.^ INDIGO is indicum^ the
Indian dye; and GAMBOGE is from Cambodia. Jen-
jibre^ the Spanish form of the word GINGER, looks as if
the root had been imported from Zanzibar, while the
Arabic form Zenjebel seems to point to the mountains
of Zend, or Persia. Sugar CANDY seems to be from
Candia; and this view is supported by the fact that
kand is the Turkish word for sugar of every kind.^ The
CYPRESS tree comes from the island of Cyprus, and the
SPRUCE fir is the Prussian fir.
" There is an herbe," says an old voyager, " which is
sowed apart by itselfe, and is called by the inhabitants
Vppowoc; in the West Indies it hath diuers names
according to the seuerall places and countreys where it
groweth and is used ; the Spanyards generally call it
TOBACCO. The leaues thereof being dried and brought
into pouder, they use to take the fume or smoake
thereof, by sucking it through pipes made of clay, into
their stomacke and head This Vppowoc is of so
precious estimation amongst them (the Indians), that
they think their gods are maruellously delighted there-
with: whereupon sometime they make hallowed fires,
and cast some of the pouder therein for a sacrifice."*
The general estimation in which the growth of Tobago*
1 Diez, Etym, WdrUrbuck^ p. 340 ; Freytag, vol. i. p. 424, b.
s In Moslem countries an inordinate quantity of sugar is consumed. A
very large number of the Arabic words now existing in the Spanish and
Portuguese languages denote preparations of sugar. See Engelmann^ Glos»
saire^ passim.
• See Hariot, " Brief and true report of the new found land of Virginia,"
apud Hackluyt, Voyages^ vol. iii. p. 271.
4 There is also a province of Yucatan called Tabaco. Adelung thinks
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4IO Words derived from Places.
was held has caused the name of this island to become
the general designation of the " herbe.** Laodicea, the
mother of Seleucus Nicator, gave her name to a city on
the Syrian coast, and the "herbe" shipped from this
port goes by the name of LATAKIA tobacco — a name
which exhibits a curious geographical juxtaposition.
Another choice growth is called YORK RIVER, a name
familiar to the readers of telegrams from the seat of
war, and derived from the Duke of York, afterwards
James II. cuBAS, havannahs, vevavs, and Manil-
las are also among the "diuers names" derived from
"the seuerall places and countreys where the herbe
groweth."
The names of wines are, with few exceptions,^ derived
from geographical sources. The CHIAN and the SAMLAN
came from islands of the Grecian archipelago. The
FALERNIAN, of which Horace was so fond, was the
produce of a volcanic hill-side near Naples. Falemian
has already been driven from the cellar to the school-
room, and the vine disease threatens to do the same
with CANARY and MADEIRA. CAPE comes from South
Africa. Three of the old provinces of France give
their names to champagne, BURGUNDY, and rousillon.
There is a vineyard near Rheims called SILLERY, CHABLIS
is a town in northern Burgundy not far from Auxerne,
that the word tobacco is not derived from either of these local names, bat
vice versd : the word may, perhaps, be derived from the Haitean iamiai»,
a pipe, or, as some have thought, the word may have been adopted from an
Indian name of the plant. Against this it may be urged that the Indian
word for tobacco is 4pp6woc. Wilson, Pre-historic Man^ voL L p. 3S3 ;
Drake, Book of the Indians^ book iv. p. 6.
^ Such as TENT, which is derived from the Spanish tinU)^ in allusion to its
rich colour. The name of claret is derived from its clearness. No
Frenchman, however, speaks of, or drinks, clairet. This is the mixtnue
manufactured solely for the English market.
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Wines, 41 1
and SAUTERNE IS a village near Bordeaux. MEDOC is
the name of the vast sandy plain which lies between the
Gironde and the ocean. The town of manzanares and
the VAL DE PENAS, or valley of rocks, are both in the
province of La Mancha. AST! is a town near Marengo.
TOKAY is situated in the north-east of Hungary.
Many of the wines of commerce, as BORDEAUX and
LISBON, receive their English names from the port of
shipment rather than from the place of growth. So
PORT is the wine exported from Oporto, and the wines
of Sicily are shipped from MARSALA, an Arabic name
meaning " the Port of God,'* and reminding us, as we
drink it, of the almost forgotten story of the Mahometan
conquests in Southern Europe. MALMSEY is a contrac-
tion of MALVASIA, having been originally shipped from
Napoli di Malvasia, a port in the Morea.
Malaga and xeres are also places of export rather
than of production. The Spanish x being pronounced
like the ck in German, the word sherris, on English lips,
is a very fair approximation to the name of the town of
Xeres, which, since Shakespeare's time, has been the
grand emporium of the Spanish wine trade. The sack
or sherris sack, upon whose excellent '* twofold opera-
tion " Falstaff so feelingly dilates,^ is Xeres sec, or dry
sherry as we should call it. The term sack was applied
to all the dry wines of Canary, Xeres, and Malaga :
thus we read of Canary sack, Malaga sack, Xeres sack.^
It would be curious to trace the progress of the per-
version whereby the wines which in the fifteenth century
1 Henry IV. second part, act iv. scene 2.
> See Hackluyt, apud Redding, Wines, p. 21 1; Drake, Shakspeare and
his Times, vol. ii. p. 130J Ducange, s. v. saccatum; Ford, Gatherings from
Spain, p. 15a
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412 Words derived from Places.
used to be correctly designated ' wines of Rhin ' have
come to be called HOCKS. Hocheim, from which the
name is derived, lies on the Mayn and not on the Rhine,
and neither the excellence nor the abundance of the
Hocheim vintage seems to afford adequate reason for
the fact that the name has become a generic term for
the whole of the Rhine wines. It may probably be due
to special commercial interests connecting some London
firm with Hocheim, for in no European language except
English do these wines go by the name of hocks. It
might seem that JOHANNISBERG, with its white Schloss,
STEINBERG, NIERSTEIN, GEISENHEIM, RUDESHEIM, ASS-
MANNHAUS, or some other of the venerable towns or
smiling villages which delight the eye of the traveller,
as he passes the romantic ruins and steep vineyards
which fringe the broad rolling stream, might have as-
serted a better claim to bestow their names upon the
delicate vintage of the Rhine, than an obscure village,
which stands upon another river, and which is by no
means unsurpassed in the excellence or abundance of its
growth.
The volcanic slopes of all the river-banks in this dis-
trict offer a congenial soil and site for the growth of the
vine. LAUBENHEIM on the Nahe, LAHNSTEIN on the
Lahn, and ZELTINGEN and PIESPORT on the MOSELLE,
compete with the more celebrated villages on the Rhine
and the Mayn. The Germans have a saw which com-
pares the qualities of their chief growths :
" Rhein-wein, fein wein ;
Neckar-wein, lecker wein ;
Franken-wein, tranken wein ;
Mosel-wein, unnosel wein."
Hungary water is said to have been first distilled
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Liqueurs, 413
by Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary.^ CHARTREUSE is
prepared from a recipe in the possession of the monks
of the celebrated monastery ruled over by St. Bernard.
CURAgAO ^ came originally from the island of that name
in the Carribean Sea. COGNAC is a town in the depart-
ment of the Charente. HOLLANDS and SCHIEDAM, as
their names import, came to us from the Dutch. Since
GIN is a contraction of Geneva, it might be supposed
that geneva was originally distilled in the city of that
name. The word geneva is, however, only an Anglicized
form of the Dutch jejiei'er^ the juniper, from the berries
of which plant the peculiar flavour is derived. WHISKEY
is a corruption of the Celtic word uisge, water, a root
which, as we have seen,* appears in the names of the
Wisk, Esk, Usk, Exe, Thames, and other Celtic rivers.
USQUEBAUGH is the " yellow water," from the Erse boy^
yellow. GLENLIVAT is the name of a highland valley in
Banffshire, famous for its stills. SPRUCE BEER is either
Prussian beer, or beer tinctured with the sap of the
spruce or Prussian fir. Colonel NEGUS has been im-
mortalized by the beverage which he first concocted.
The etymology of GROG is curious. Admiral Vernon,
a sailor of the old school, used to wear a grogram coat,^
and hence the seamen bestowed upon him the nickname
of ' Old Grog,' which was afterwards transferred to the
1 Beckmann, History 0/ Inventions^ voL i. p. 316.
* Often wrongly spelt Cura9oa. Cf. the analogous names Macao, Bilbao,
Callao, &c.
s Gin being originally a Dutch drink, the name is undoubtedly derived
from the Dutch jenever^ rather than from the French equivalent genOvre,
as is usually alleged.
* See pp. 202 — 206, supra,
9 The word Grogram is an Anglicization of the French gros-^rain, coarse
textured.
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414 Words derived from Places.
mixture of rum and water which he was the first to
introduce into the navy.^
The names of animals, like those of plants, are able
to supply us, in many cases, with information as to the
countries from which they haye been introduced, as well
as with examples of the curious phonetic changes which
the names of those countries have undergone.
The naturalization of the COCHIN CHINA fowl has
been too recent to permit any of these changes to take
place. The same is the case with DORKINGS and
SPANISH FOWLS. The GUINEA FOWL came from the
Guinea coast,^ and the CANARY was brought from the
Canary Isles in the middle of the sixteenth century.'
BANTAMS came from the iDutch settlement of Bantam
in Java. The pheasant is of much older introductioa
The name is derived from the Latin avis phasiana — the
Phasian bird — whence we conclude, with Pliny, that the
bird was originally brought from the banks of the river
Phasis, in Colchis. The EIDER duck takes its name
from the river Eider in Holstein, whence, however, the
bird has long disappeared. The TURKEY was so named
by a mistake. It is an American fowl, but was popularly
supposed to have come from the Levant. The German
name, Kalekuter^ would imply that it came from Calicut,
and the French Dinde, a contraction of poukt d'Inde,
appears to endorse the same error.
Ermine is the fur of the animal of the same name ;
1 Taylor, AtUiquitaies CuriosiE^ p. 58 ; Notes and Queriesy first series,
vol. L pp. 58, 168 ; Sullivan, Diet, 0/ Derivations^ p. no.
• The GUiNEA-pig is a native of Brazil, but it may probably have been
originally brought to this country by some ship engaged in the Guinea
trade.
« Hence canary seed and the canary colour.
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Names of A nimals, 4 1 5
Chaucer calls it the Armine.^ By a parallel phonetic
change, Ville Hardouin calls the Arminians the Her-
mines. Hence we may with great probability assign
the animal to Armenia, and its scientific name, Mus
Panticusy points to the same region.
The SABLE, like the Ermine, bears the corrupted name
of a large country. The English form affords no clue
to the etymology, but we find that the word in Italian
takes the form ZibellinOy which appears to be a cor-
ruption of Sibelino or Siberino — the fur from Siberia.
The POLECAT is from Poland. SHAMOY leather is often
erroneously spelt chamois, as if it were prepared from
the hide of the Alpine antelope. But, like RUSSIA or
MOROCCO, the word shamoy has a geographical origin,
and means the leather from Samland, a district on the
Baltic.
Many of the breeds of domestic cattle are of such
recent origin, that the names have as yet suffered no
corruption. Thus the names of leicesters, and south-
downs, DEVONS'and HEREFORDS, as well as of ANGOLAS,
cashmeres, shetlands and Newfoundlands, are
still in the second stage of word formation.^ In the
third stage we may place the SPANIEL, which is either
the Spanish dog, or the dog from Hispaniola. The
GREYHOUND is the Grecian dog (canis graius). PUSS is
an endearing corruption of Pers, the Persian cat.* The
meaning of the word BARB* is slowly changing; it was at
first used strictly of a horse brought from Barbary, just
^ We find also the fonns Harmellnus and Arminise pellis, and the Italian
name is Armellino. Diez, Etymol, Worterbuck^ p. 26.
s See p. 403, supra; and compare the names chedder, Cheshire,
STILTON, PARMESAN, &C.
' Hume, Geographical Terms^ p. 9.
* German, harbor ; Old French, barbare.
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4i6 Words derived from Places.
as an ARAB was a horse from Arabia. Of kindred blood
to Barbs and Arabs is the Spanish horse called a
JENNET, a name which may not improbably be derived
from Jaen, the capital of one of the Moorish kingdoms in
the Peninsula. Nor have we yet acknowledged all the
obligations of our horse-breeders to the Arabian blood
One of the galleons of the Armada, which had succeeded
in weathering Cape Wrath and the storm-beaten
Hebrides, was lost on the coast of Galloway, and tra-
dition avers that a Spanish stallion, rescued from the
wreck, became the ancestor of the strong and serviceable
breed of galloways. A curious instance of change of
application in a name occurs in the case of the strong
Normand horses which were imported from Rouen.
They were called rouens or ROANS — ^a word which has
now come to denote the colour of the horse rather than
the breed.
Collectors of insects often give topic names to rare
or local species, such as the Camberwell beauty, the
Kentish glory, the Bath white ; and there are scores of
similar names which might be added to the list. The
venomous spider called the TARANTULA takes its name
from Taranto in Southern Italy. The Cantharides of
the druggist's shop often go by the name SPANISH
FLIES. Mosquitoes, however, do not take their name
from the Musquito coast, the word being the diminutive
of the Spanish word mosca, a fly.^
The CARP is in Latin cupra or cyprinus, the fish from
Cyprus. SARDINES are caught off the coast of Sardinia,
but we should be wrong in supposing that the SARDINE
stone or the SARDONYX came to us from that island, for
1 The word musket (Italian, moscheUd) is from the same root Dicr,
Etynu Wbrterb, p. 232.
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Names of Minerals. 417
the true origin of these names is to be sought at Sardis
in Asia Minor. The loadstone and the magnet are both
local names. The LOADSTONE is a corrupted ^ trans-
lation of Lyditis lapisy the stone of Lydia. In the same
region we must seek for the source of the name MAGNET,
which is derived from Magnesia, a Lydian city. From
Magnesia we also obtain the names of MANGANESE, or
manganesisy MAGNESIA, and MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE.
COPPER is cuprum or (bs cyprium, the brass of Cyprus.'
The neighbouring island of Crete gave its name to the
cretay a sort of pipeclay which the Romans used for
seals, the knot with which the packet was tied being
enveloped in a ball of clay, and the seal impressed upon
it From the Latin creta the English adjective CRETA-
CEOUS has been formed, and from the same root we get
our CRAYONS through the medium of the French craie,
TRIPOLI powder is composed of the flinty skeletons of
diatomaciae, of which large beds exist near Tripoli. The
TURKEY STONE on which we whet our razors is derived
from the same region, and possibly from the same
quarries as the cos^ to which the Romans gave the name
of the island from which they were accustomed to pro-
cure it^ The TURQUOISE is a sort of misnomer. It
came from Nishapore in Persia, but being imported by
the Turkey merchants was supposed to be a Turkish
stone. CHALCEDONY came from Ghalcedon, and ALA-
1 The notion of a leading or guiding-stone seems to have influenced the
present form of the word. Cf. the loadstar, or leading-star.
• The Sanskrit name is nearly identical, which would indicate that copper
first reached India from the West See Pictet, Orig. Indo-Europ. part i.
p. 173-
3 Or the island may have derived its name from the stone. In favour of
this view it may be urged that the Sanskrit ^o means to sharpen. Cf. the
Latin acuo.
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41 8 Words derived from Places.
BASTER from Alabastrum in Egypt, as we are told by
Pliny, who also informs us that the TOPAZ came from
Topazos, an island in the Red Sea. AGATES were first
found in the bed of the Achates, a Sicilian river.^ In
like manner the Gagates, a river of Lycia, gave its name
to the black stone which the- French cdl\gagate,jayet, or
faety a word which we have abbreviated into JET. The
crystal called SPA came originally from the Belgian
watering-place whose name has been transferred to so
many mineral springs, and the word CHALYBEATE is
itself indirectly derived from the name of the Chalubes,
a tribe which inhabited the iron-producing district of
Armenia, seidlitz in Bohemia has given its name
to the well-known effervescing draughts, and genuine
SELTZER water comes from Nieder Selters, near Maintz.
On Epsom Common may still be discovered the forsaken,
but once fashionable well, from whose waters EPSOM
SALTS were first procured. GYPSUM, when written in its
ancient form egipsunt^ tells us that it came from Eg^'-pt
PLASTER of PARIS was procured in great abundance
from the catacombs of Paris, and UMBER and SIENNA,
as the names import, are earths from Northern Italy.
SYENITE is the granite of Syene in Upper Egypt^
PARIAN marble is from the isle of Paros, and CAEN and
BATH stone have suffered no corruption. Two of the
newly discovered metals take their names respectively
from YTTRIUM in Sweden and STRONTIAN in Argyle-
shire. NATRON and NITRE are found in the Egyptian
province of Nitria, where natron lakes still exist, though
it is fairly ^ open to dispute whether the salt gave its
1 Bochart, vol. iil p. 549.
• There are many terms of local origin used by geologists, sudi as DeTx>-
nian, Silurian, Wealden, Cambrian, &c
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Textile Fabrics, 419
name to the province, or, as Jerome asserts, the province
performed the like office for the salt AMMONIA abounds
likewise in the soil of the Libyan desert, and in the
writings of Synesius, bishop of Pentapolis, we have an
account of the preparation of the sal amnioniacus by
the priests of Jupiter Ammon, and its transmission to
Egypt in baskets made of the leaves of psdms.
A large number, we might almost say the greater
number, of the fabrics which we wear, are called by
names derived from the places at which they were
originally made. Political and social revolutions, aided
by the invention of the spinning jenny, of the power-
loom, and of the steam-engine, have, it is true, transferred
the great seats of manufacture from India, from the
Levant, from Holland, from Northern Italy, and from
East Anglia, to the neighbourhood of our English coal-
fields, but the fabrics retain the ancient names which
still testify of the places which saw the earliest develop-
ments of industrial energy. Our CASHMERE SHAWLS^
are now made at Paisley ; our japanned ware comes
from Birmingham, our china from Staffordshire, our
NANKEEN from Manchester, and we even export our
CALICO to Calicut, the very place from whence, three
hundred years ago, it used to come.*
Names of this class resolve themselves, for the most
part, into three divisions, which indicate in a character-
istic manner the three chief centres of mediaeval industry.
The ingenuity and inventive skill of the Arabs gave
^ The word shawl is itself the name of a valley and district in Affghan-
istan.
■ The French for calico is calicot The fact that the / is dropped in
English indicates that we got the word through the French. Hackluyt
calls it "Calicut cloth."
E E 2
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420 Words derived from Places.
the first impulse to the industrial progress of the West
Thus SARCENET (low Latin, saracenicum) was a silken
fabric obtained from the Saracens. Mouseline, the
French form of the word MUSLIN, clearly refers us to
Moussul,^ in the neighbourhood of the eastern capital
of the Caliphs. In Bagdad, the street inhabited by the
manufacturers of silken stuffs was called Atab, and the
fabrics woven by them were called Atabi.* From a
corruption of this word we probably derive the words
TAFFETY and TABBY.8 The rich figured silk called
DAMASK,* and the famous DAMASCUS swords were pro-
duced at the central seat of the Moslem dominion,* and
the TOLEDO blades remind us that the Arab conquerors
carried their metallurgic skill with them to the West.
From another Moslem kingdom came CIPRESSE, the
black " cobweb lawn " behind which Olivia, in ' Twelfth
Night,' " hides her heart," and which the pedlar Auto-
lycus, in the * Winter's Tale,' carries in his pack.
Gauze was made at Gaza, as is indicated by gaze,
the French, and gasa the Spanish form of the name ; •
and in the same way we are guided by the Italian
baldacchino in assigning BAUDEKIN, which we read of in
old authors, to Baldacca or New Bagdad, one of the
suburbs of Cairo. Baudekin originally meant a rich
silken tissue embroidered with figures of birds, trees,
and flowers, in gold and silver thread, but the word was
subsequently used for any rich canopy, especially that
1 Dicz, Etymol. Wdrterbuch^ p. 236 ; Pihan, Glossaire^ p. 21a
• Gayangos, Dynasties^ vol. L pp. 358, 51 ; Yonge, Chrutian Kame^
vol. i. p. 122.
> A tabby cat has the wavy markings of vrateied silk.
* Scarlet, it may be noted, is an Arabic word.
* Diez, Etymol. IVortcrbuchy p. 121.
• Pihan, Glossaire, p. 132; Diez, Etymol. JVorlerd.p, 641.
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Manufactures of the A robs. 42 1
over the altar, and pre-eminently the canopy in St
Peter's under which stands the throne of the Pope.^
Previous to the tenth century an important suburb of
Cairo was Fostat,^ where flourished the manufacture of
FUSTIAN ; fostagno, the Italian name of the fabric,
indicates this more clearly than the English disguise.*
Mohair, or moire, is a fabric* of the Moors or Arabs
of Spain ; and the same skilful race, after the Spanish
conquest, manufactured JEAN at Jaen ; and at Cordova,
cordovan or CORDWAIN,^ a kind of leather prized by thie
cordonniers or CORDWAINERS of the middle ages as
highly as MOROCCO is by the leather-workers of the
present day. Truly the most elaborate history of the
civilization® of the Arabs would fail to give us any
^ Fairholt, Up Ae Nile, p. 59. Wedgwood {English Eiym. p. 126)
copies Diez, Etym, Wbrterb. p. 39, in assigning Ihis manufacture to Bagdad
on the Tigris. The ecclesiastical vestment called a dalmatic was invented
in Dalmatia.
• Gibbon, chap. li. vol. vi. p. 403.
» Diez, Etymol. Worterb, p. 157. Dimity is not, as has been asserted,
the fabric from Damietta, but that woven with two threads (8(j and /ifroj)
just as twill and drill are respectively made with two and three threads, as
the names imply.
• In Almeria there were at least 4,000 looms. Gayangos, Dynasties y
voL i. p. 51. MERINO is woven from the wool of the Merino sheep, a name
which Southey has ingeniously derived from the emirs, or shepherd princes
of Spain. The name of moreen may be due to thiC same source, though
it is more probably derived from the dark colour.
' Diez, Etymol. Wbrterb. p. 1 1 1 ; Menage, Origines, pp. 229, 696.
• To the Arabs we also owe much of the early science of the West, as is
shown by the words chemistry , alchemy , alembic^ borax, elixir, alkali, alcohol,
azul, lapis lazuli, algebra, cUmanac, azimuth, zenith, and nadir, which are all
of Arabic origin. How feeble, too, would be our powers of calculation with-
oat the ARABIC numerals, and the Arabic system of decimal notation. It
is also a very suggestive fact that almost every Spanish word connected with
irrigation — some dozen in aU — is of Arabic origin. E.g. alberca, a tank ;
azequia, a canal ; atena, a water-wheel ; aljibe, a well. Gayangos, Dynas-
ties, p. 487. Many nautical terms used in Spain are also Arabic. E.g.
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422 Words derived from Places,
such vivid sense of their industry and ingenuity as is
conveyed by the curious fact, that the seats of their
empire, whether in Europe, in Africa, or in Asia, have
stamped their names indelibly on so many of the
fabrics in our daily use. •
As the energies of the Moslem races decayed, the
Flemings took their place as the chief manufacturing
people.^ When Leeds and Manchester were country
villages, and Liverpool a hamlet, Flanders was supply-
ing all Europe with textile fabrics. The evidence of
this fact is interwoven into the texture of our English
speech. We have seen that many silken and cotton
fabrics come from the Arabs ; the Flemings excelled in
the manufactures of flax and wool. From Cambrai we
have CAMBRIC, as is clear from the French form cambray^
or toile de Cambray, DIAPER, formerly written d'ipre or
d" YpreSf was made at Ypres, one of the chief seats of the
cloth manufacture, as we learn from Chaucer, who says
of his wife of Bath : —
" Of doth making she hadde swiche an haunt.
She passed hem of Ipres and of Gaunt"
Another colony of clothworkers was settled on the
River Toucques in Normandy. From the name of this
river a whole family of words has been derived.* In
German the general name for cloth is %\i6^, and* in old
English ttick. We read in Hackluyt a description of " the
great Turke himselfe," who had " upon his head a goodly
scutia^ a boat ; the small three-masted vessel called a xabetjue ; almadia^ a
xaft; arsenal : and almiranUy an admiral, which is a corruption oiamr-ol-
bahr, commander at sea. Gayangos, Dynasties^ vol. ii. appendix, p. xxx?l;
Engelmann, Glossaire^ p. 53.
^ The Flemish manufactures arose in the twelfth centuiy. See Hallim,
Middle 9lgieSy vol. iii. p. 375.
• See Knapp, English Roots, p. 46.
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Manufactures of the Flemings. 423
white tucke, containing in length by estimation fifteene
yards, which was of silke and linnen wouen together,
resembling something of Calicut cloth." ^ White trou-
sers are made of DUCK, our beds are covered with
TICKING, and our children wear TUCKERS at their meals.
A TUCKER was originally a narrow band of linen cloth
worn by ladies round the throat. Hence any narrow
strip of cloth fastened on the dress was called a TUCK
or TUCKER, and when this mode of ornamentation was
imitated by a fold in the fabric, the fold or plait itself
received the same name. A weaver used to be called a
tucker, and Tucker is still a common surname among
us. In Somerset and in Cornwall there are villages
called Tucking Mill, and Tucker Street in Bristol ^ was
that occupied by the weavers.^
From the Walloons we have galloon,* that is,
Walloon lace, as well as the finer fabrics which take
their names from VALENCIENNES and MECHLIN. GING-
HAM was originally made at Guingamp in French Flan-
ders.^ From the same region come LISLE thread, the
rich tapestry called ARRAS, and BRUSSELS CARPETS. In
the marshes of Holland the fabrics were of a less costly
type than among the wealthy Flemings. From this
region we obtain the names of DELF ware, brown HOL-
LAND, and homely frieze,* or cloth of Friesland.
* Anthony lenkinson, '* The manner of the entring of Soliman the great
Turke, with his armie into Aleppo in Syria," apud Hackluyt, Voyages^
voL ii. p. 1 13.
' Lucas, Secularia, p. loi.
' I have left this paragraph as it stood in the first edition, though I am
now far from certain as to the correctness of the etymology suggested. The
very early use of the word tuck suggests some independent Teutonic root.
* The GALLEON was probably a Walloon vessel, one of the great Ant-
werp merchantmen.
• Hume, Geographical Terms^ p. 7. ,*•-
• Compare, however, the Welsh ^w, the hap of cloth. To frizzle, in
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424 Words derived from Places.
Passing from the ingenious Arabs and the indus-
trious Netherlanders, we find among the luxurious
republics of Northern Italy a third series of names, as
characteristic and as suggestive as those we have already
considered. The fiddles of CREMONA, the PISTOLS of
Pistoja^ in Tuscany, the bonnets of LEGHORN, the PADS
and PADDING of Padua, the rich fabric called PADU ASOV,
and the scent called BERGAMOT, are fair specimens of
the wares which would be articles of foremost necessity
to the fine gentleman and fair ladies who figure in the
pages of Boccace ; and it is easy to understand that
ITALIAN IRONS might be suitably introduced by those
MILLINERS and MANTUAMAKERS^ who derive their
names from two cities where their services were so
abundantly appreciated;^ On the other hand, ITALICS
and ROMAN type still bear witness in every printing
office that the newly discovered art was nowhere more
French frher, is to curl the hair in the Frisian fashion. See, however,
Grimm, Gesch, Dent Spr. p. 669; Diez, Etym, Worterb, p. 155. The
architectural term frieze is probably derived from Phrygia, certainly not
from Friesland. The attics of our houses may be traced to the Attic
order of architecture, which displayed an upper tier of columns.
^ The name of pistoyers was originally given to certain small daggers,
and was afterwards transferred to the small concealed firearms. H. Stc-
phanus, apud Diez, E/ym. Worterbuchy p. 267 ; Manage, Origines, p. 527.
To this last we may add the pavois^ or shield of Pavia. Diez, Etym.
IVorterbuchf p. 256.
« Whewell, in Phil. Proc. vol. v. p. 136, thinks this is an erroneous deri-
vation. He prefers manteau. The best bells for hawks were called uilans,
because imported from Milan. See Drake, Shakspeare and his Tima, voLi.
p. 268.
3 The tureen is not from Turin, but is a terrine^ or earthen vessel Whe-
well, in Philohg. Proc. vol. v. p. 136. We have also polonies or Bologna
sausages, and saveloys from Savoy. Cf. Perigord pies, Bath buns, Ban-
bury cakes, &c. The magenta colour derives its name from a Lombard
village, but the name commemorates the date, and not the locality of the
discovery.
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Manufactures of Northern Italy, 425
eagerly welcomed, or carried to a higher perfection than
in the country in which the revival of learning first
b^an.
From the rest of Europe we may glean a few scat-
tered names of- the same class — ^though they mostly
denote peculiarities of local costume rather than esta-
blished seats of manufacture. Thus, we have the word
CRAVATS from the nation of the Cravates, or Croats as
they are now called.^ There was a French regiment of
light horse called "le royal Cravate," because it was
attired in the Croat fashion, and the word cravat was
introduced in 1636, when the neck-ties worn by these
troops became the mode. GALLIGASKINS were the
large open hose worn by the Gallo-vascones, or Gascons
of Southern France. GALL6CHES, or galloshoes,* are
the wooden sabots worn by the French peasants, and
the name has been transferred to the overshoes of
caoutchouc which have been recently introduced. The
French city from which we first obtained SHALLOON is
indicated by Chaucer in the " Reves Tale." The Miller
of Trumpington, we read,
'<Madeabedde
With shetes and chalons fair yspredde."
JERSEYS and GUERNSEYS remind us how the mothers
and wives of the fishermen in the Channel islands used
to toil with their knitting-needles while their sons and
^ Whewell, in Phil, Proc. voL v. p. 136 ; Zeuss, Du DaOschen^ p. 608.
• The etymology here suggested is doubtful. The word is very ancient,
for the Roman ccUiga^ from which Caligula derived his name, and the Lan-
ca3hire clog^ are from the same root. Compare the Old Spanish gallochas^
Erse galoigy Brezone galochou. Spenser speaks of " My galage grown
fast to my heel." Diefenbach, Cdtkay i. p. 133 ; Diez, EtymoL Worter-
buchf p. 162; Whitaker, History 0/ Manchester^ vol. ii. p. 258; Menage,
Origines, p. 338.
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426 Words derived from Places.
husbands were labouring at sea, TWEEDS were made
at Hawick, Galashiels, Selkirk, and other towns on the
Scottish border. The name was first suggested by the
misreading of an invoice, and the appropriateness of this
substitution of Tweeds for Twills gave rapid currency to
the new name. WORSTED ^ takes its name from Wor-
stead, a village not far from Norwich, and informs us
that the origin of our English textile manufactures dates
from the settlement, in the time of Henry I., of a colony of
Flemings, who made Norwich one of the chief manufac-
turing towns of England. The importance of the East
Anglian woollen trade ^ is also shown by the fact that two
contiguous Suffolk villages, Lindsey, and Kersey with its
adjacent »r^r^,have given their names to LINDSEY WOLSEY
and KERSEYMERE. BAIZE IS said* to be from Baise near
Naples, though this appears to be only an ingenious
etymological guess. It is said also that DRUGGET, or
droget, was first made at Drogheda in Ireland, and that
BONNETS came from the Irish village of that name.
From the name of Hibemia is derived the French word
bemey a blanket,* and hence, perhaps, we have obtained
the semi-naturalized word BERNOUSE.« Llanelly, I
believe, was a great place for the Welsh flannel manu-
facture, though whether the word FLANNEL is derived
from the name Llanelly is doubtful.^ The etymology
at all events seems quite as probable as that which
1 Blomefield, Hist, of Norfolk^ vol. v. p. 1455 ; Gough's Camden, voL n.
p. 190 ; Hallam, Middle Agts, vol. iii. p. 378.
« See Good Words^ March, 1864 ; Hume, Geographical Terms, p. 6.
■ Hume, Geographical Terms, p. 7.
^ Italian and Spanish demia, Diefenbach, Cellica, i. p. 201 ; Diez, £fym,
Worterbuch, p. 51.
6 The general use of this word in the East suggests a doubt whether it
may not be of Semitic origin.
• Notes and Queries, second series, vol. ix. p. 177.
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Vehicles. 427
Diez proposes, from velamen} The word silk may be
traced to the sericce vestes^ the garments of the Seres or
Chinese, who, ever since the time of Pliny, have been
the chief producers of this material.
It must suffice briefly to enumerate a few inventions
whose names betray a local origin.
The towns of Sedan in France, and Bath in England,
have given us SEDANS and BATH CHAIRS. From
Kottsee,a town in Hungary, comes the Hungarian word
KOTCZY, and the German jlutfc^e,* of which the English
word COACH* is a corruption.*
The first BERLINE was constructed for an ambas-
sadorial journey from Berlin to Paris. The LANDAU
is said to derive its name from the town of Landau in
the Palatinate.* It has been supposed that Hackney
1 Diez, Etymol, W&rterhtuh^ p. 147.
s John Cuspinianus, physician to Maximilian T., says that the Hungarians
rode in carriages, called in their native tongue kottschi, Ungriches Mag,
vol. i. p. 20, vol. ii. p. 460. See two most exhaustive treatises on this word,
by M. Coraides, in the Ungriches Magazin^ vol. i. pp. 15 — 21 ; vol. ii.
pp. 412 — ^465. See also Beckmann, Hist, of Inveniions, vol. i. p. 77.
■ Coaches were introduced into England from Hungary, by the Earl of
Arundel, in 1580. Ung, Mag, vol. ii. p. 424 ; Smith, Antiquarian Ramble,
vol. i. p. 367.
* The Kutsche was a carriage in which the traveller might sleep, as ap-
pears from a passage of Avila, quoted by Diez, p. 105. Charles V. he
says, **se puso d dormir en un carro cubierto, al qual en Hungria Uaman
coche, el nombre y la invencion es de aquella tierra." Hence it has been
proposed to connect the English word couch, and the French verb
ecu CHER with the same root, but the influence is probably only of a reflex
nature, the ultimate source of these two words beuig to be sought in the
Latin collocare,
* Whewell, in Philolog. Proc, vol. v. p. 136 ; Hume, Geogr. Terms, p. 17.
It seems probable, however, that it may have been named after Marshal
Landau, like the stanhope, tilbury, and brougham. There is a coach-
maker, in Longacre, called Rumball, and a writer in Notes and Queries
(second series, vol. ix. p. 177) suggests that the rumble was invented by
him.
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428 Words derived from Places.
coaches were first used at the London suburb of Hack-
ney;^ the true etymology, however, seems to be the
French word hacquen^e^ an ambling nag, of which the
English hack is an abbreviation.^
Chevaux de frise, the wooden horses of Friesland,
are due to Dutch ingenuity. They were first drawn up
at the siege of Groningen, in 1658, to oppose the Spanish
cavalry. A nearly contemporaneous invention is that
of the BAYONET, which was first used at the storming
of Bayonne in 1665.* The BURGONET, probably, takes
its name from Burgundy, and the CARABINE from
Calabria, as is indicated by the obsolete Italian form of
the word — calabrifto. The word CALIBRE, though appa-
rently cognate, is really from an Arabic source.* The
POLE-AXE was the national weapon of the Poles. The
LOCHABER axe has disappeared along with Highland
warfare, and that other national weapon, the SHILLELAH,*
will, we may hope, soon be confined also to the museums
of the antiquary. Improved weapons, according to the
modern rule of nomenclature, are named after the
inventor, as in the case of Congreve rockets, Mini^ and
Whitworth rifles, and Armstrong, Dahlgren, and Parrot
guns. An exception, however, exists in the case of long
1 Taylor, AntiquUates Curiosa, pu 115.
s In the seventeenth century we have mention of the cocke ^ ha^ueitk.
See Diez, Etym, W'drterhuck^ p. 192 ; Diefenbach, Vergleich. Worterbatck,
vol. i. p. 30 ; Menage, Origines^ p. 375.
s Diez, Etym, IVorterbuch^ p. 561. Grenades have no connexion with
the famous siege of Granada, but are so called fix>m their resemblance to
the granate or pomegranate. The tallest and strongest men in the regi-
ment, who were chosen to throw them, were called grenadiers,
* Englemann, Glossaire^ p. 76.
B The oak saplings which grow in a certain wood in the parish of Sh3-
Iclah, County Wicklow, are believed to be of a peculiarly tough and knotty
quality.
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Weapons. 429
Enfields and short Enfields, which are made in the
Grovemment factory at Enfield, just as the obsolete
ordnance called CARRON ADES were cast at the celebrated
Carron Foundry on the Clyde.
The word PARCHMENT is derived from the Latin
charta pergamena^ or pergamentum, which was used for
the multiplication of manuscripts for the great library
at Pergamus. From the Campagna of Rome we have
the Italian campana a bell,^ and the naturalized English
word CAMPANILE, a bell tower. The first artesian
well was sunk through the chalk basin of the province
of ARTOIS. VARNISH * is said to be from the city of
Berenice on the Red Sea, The BOUGIE, that constant
source of altercation at Continental hotels, takes its
name from Bougiah, a town in Algeria which exports
large quantities of beeswax.* Venetian blinds, prussic
acid and prussian blue, Dresden, Sevres, Worcester,
Chelsea, and other names of the class present no etymo-
logical difficulties. MAJOLICA is Majorca ware, and Mr.
Marsh thinks that the glass vessel called a DEMIJOHN
may take its name from Damaghan, a town in Khoras-
san formerly famous for its glass works.*
Many names of this description are personal rather
than local. Thus the DOILEY is supposed to have been
introduced by a tradesman in the Strand,^ one Doyley,
whose name may still be seen cut in the stone over the
office of the Field newspaper ; and the etymology of the
1 See Ducange, s. v. ; Diez, Etym, Worterb, p. 84.
s Cf. the Italian vemice, and the Spanish bemU,
• Diez, Eiym, Wort, p. 76 ; Manage, OrigineSy p. 130 ; Pihan, Glossaire^
p. 63.
4 Marsh, Z^r/. on Eng. Language, p. 145 ; English edition, p. loi. The
dame Jeanne, however, seems to have been a bottle made near Arras. See
Philolog. Trans, vol. i. p. 62—72.
* Notes and Queries, second series^ vol. ii. p. 476.
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430 Words derived from Places,
word MACKINTOSH IS not likely to be forgotten while the
shop at Charing Cross continues to bear the name of
the inventor. In like manner JACKET, in French jaque,
was so called from Jaque of Beauvais,^ and GOBELIN
tapestry from the brothers Gobelin, dyers at Paris,
whose house, called the Hotel des Gobelins, was bought
by Louis XV. for the manufacture of the celebrated
fabric.^ The invention of SPENCERS and SANDWICHES
by two noblemen of the last century is commemorated
in a contemporaneous epigram, which may perhaps
bear transcription : —
** Two noble earls, whom, if I quote.
Some folks might call me sinner.
The one invented half a coat.
The other, half a dinner.
The plan was good, as some will say.
And fitted to console one.
Because, in this poor starving day,
Few can afford a whole one.**'
The invention of Earl Spencer may be classed with
the WELLINGTONS and, BlCchers which came into
fashion at the close of the European war ; and that of
the Earl of Sandwich with Maintenon cutlets. It has
been suggested* that we owe the BRAWN on our break-
fast tables to a German cook named Braun who lived in
Queen Street. The word, however, is doubtless of much
greater antiquity, the true etymology being to be sought
in the old French braion^ a roll of flesh.
1 Diez, Eiym, Worterb. p. 172 ; compare Yonge, Christian Noma, vdL i.
p. 1 10 ; Menage, Origines, p. 353.
« See Notes and Queries, Nov. loth, i860 ; Beckmann, JlisU of Inven-
tionSf vol. i p. 403.
s Booth, Epi^ams, p. 83. The invention of Lord Sandwich is said to
have enabled him to remain at the gaming-table for 24 consecutive hoars,
without having to retire for a regular meal. Taylor, Antiq, Curiosa, p. 17.
* Notes and Queries, second series, vol. ii. pp. 196, 235.
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Personal Names. 43 1
From two Greek philosophers we derive the terms
PLATONIC love, and EPICURE. The guillotine takes
its name from Dr. Guillotin, who introduced it^ The
DERRICK, a machine for raising sunken ships, by means
of ropes attached to a sort of gallows, perpetuates the
memory of a hangman of the Elizabethan period.^
TRAM roads and macadamization we owe to Outram
and Macadam. A strict disciplinarian in the army of
Louis XIV. has given us the word MARTINET, and from
a French architect we obtain the MANSARDE roof ^ Mr.
PINCHBECK was one of the cheap goldsmiths of the last
century, and has left numerous disciples in our own.*
An ingenious astronomical toy bears the name of the
Earl of ORRERY.* Galvani, Volta, Daguerre, and Talbot
have stamped their names upon two of the greatest dis-
coveries of modem times. The value of MESMERISM is
more open to question.® The name of SILHOUETTE was
bestowed in the time of Louis XV. on the meagre
shadow portraits which were then in vogue, and it con-
tains a sarcastic allusion to the niggardly finance of
M. de Silhouette, an unpopular minister of the French
monarch.^
1 Dr. Guillotin only introduced the bill in the Convention ; a Dr. Louis
was the real inventor of the machine, which was at first called the Looisette.
See Timesy June iith, 1864.
» Hotten, Siang DkU p. 119.
* Whewell, in Philology Proc, vol. v. p. 136.
* Hotten, Slang Diet. p. 201.
' The Orrery was invented by a Mr. Rowley, who gave it the name of
his patron.
* This method of nomendature has naturally prevailed among religious
sects. We have ^RiANS, arminians, calvinists, wesleyans, simeon-
ITES and PUSEYITES.
f Sismondi, Hist de Frattfais^ vol. xxix. pp. 94, 95, apud Diez, Etym,
Wdrterb. p. 725. So Mr. Joseph Hume*s unpopular fourpenny pieces were
called JOEYS by the cabmen ; and Sir Robert Peel's substitute for the Lon-
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432 Words derived from Places.
Paschino was a cobbler at Rome; he was a noted
character, and a man of a very marked physic^nomy.
The statue of an ancient gladiator having been ex-
humed, and erected in front of the Orsini palace, the
Roman wits detected a resemblance to the notorious
cobbler, and gave the statue his name. It afterwards
became the practice to post lampoons on the pedestal of
the statue, whence effusions of this nature have come to
be called PASQUINADES.^ Pamphylla, a Greek lady, who
compiled a history of the world in thirty-five little books,
has given her name to the PAMPHLET.^ The name of
PUNCH, or, to give him his unabbreviated Italian title,
Pulcinello, has been derived from the name of the
person who is said to have first performed the world-
known drama, one Puccio d'Aniello, a witty peasant of
Acerza in the Roman Campagna.^ It has also been sup-
posed, with some reason, that Punch and Judy and the
dog Toby are relics of an ancient mystery play, the
actors in which were Pontius Pilate, Judas, and Tobias'
dog. For the word HARLEQUIN, in Italian Arlechino^ a
local origin has, however, been suggested; the name
being, perhaps, derived from the Arlecamps, or Champ
d* Aries, where the performance was first exhibited*
The word CHARLATAN we may trace through the Italian
forms ciarlatano and cerretano to the city of Cerreta*
VAUDEVILLE is from Vau-de-Ville in Normandy, where
don watchmen axe still called BOBBYS and peelers. Hotteo, Slang I>kL
pp. 163, 198.
1 Yonge, Christian Names, voL i p. 437.
" Atkenaum, Nov. nth, 1863, p. 715.
» Diez, Etymdog, WbrteHmch, p. 425.
* Diez, EtymoL Worterb. p. 26. See, however, Max Miiller, in Reports
of Brit Assoc, for 1847, p. 322.
* Diez, EtytnoL Worterb, p. 100 ; Manage, Origines, p. 202.
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Names of Coins, 43 3
the entertainment was introduced by Olivier Basselin, at
the end of the fourteenth century.^
Many analogous derivations which we find in classical
authors are obviously fanciful or mythical. Thus we
read that the art of grinding was discovered at Alesiae
{pLSAaoAy to grind), by Myles {iuSK% a millstone).* In like
manner we are told that the tinder-box was invented by
Pyrodes, and the spindle by Closter ; and that the oar
was first used at two Boeotian towns — Copae (handle),
and Plataeae (blade).' This, it need not be said, is as
absurd as if a modem Pliny were to assure us that
needles were first manufactured by a Mr. Steel at the
western extremity of the Isle of Wight, or that the
game of draughts was originally played in Ayrshire.
The etymology of the names of coins is often curious.
The GUINEA was first coined in 1663 from gold brought
from the Guinea coast. It was struck as a twenty-
shilling piece, but from the fineness of the metal the new
coins were so highly prized that they commanded an
agio of a shilling. The BYZANT, a large gold coin of
the value of 15/ sterling, was struck at Byzantium.
The DOLLAR was originally the same as the German
THALER, which took its name from the silverworks in
the I^al or valley of Joachim in Bohemia. Its currency
throughout the New World bears witness to the exten-
sion of the Spanish-Austrian empire in the reign of
Charles V. The FLORIN was struck at Florence, and
bore the Florentine device of the lily-flower,* which has
^ Du Bois, p. 13, apud Diez, Etymol. Worterb, p. 742.
• Kenrick, Frinueval History, p. 82 ; Pott, in Kuhn's Zeitschrift Jur
Vergleich, Spr. vol. ix. p. 181.
« Kenrick, Phoenicia^ I*- 217-
4 Menage, Origina, p. 793 ; Notes and Queries, second series, vol. v.
p. 258.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
434 Words derived from Places,
been reproduced on the new English coins of the same
name. The mark was a Venetian coin, stamped with
the winged lion of St Mark, and since Venice was the
banker to half the world, it became the ordinary money
of account.^ CUFIC coins, silver pieces with Arabic
characters, were coined at Cufa. The JANE which is
mentioned by Chaucer and Spenser was a small coin of
Genoa (Janua). The FRANC is the nummus francicus —
the coin of the Franks or French, and the Dutch GUILDER
may possibly take its name from Gelderland.*
MONEY and MINT remind us that the coinage of the
Romans was struck at the temple of Juno Moneta, the
goddess of counsel (moneo). The word STERLING is a
contraction of esterling — the pound or penny sterling
being a certain weight of bullion according to the
standard of the Esterlings or eastern merchants from
the Hanse towns on the Baltic' The convenience of
the local standard of Troyes has given us TROY
weight; and the STEELYARD is not, as is commonly
supposed, a balance made with a steel arm, but is the
^ Yonge, Christian Names, vol. i. p. 291.
s A DUCAT is the coin issued by a duke, just as a sovereign is that
issued by a king. A tester bore the image of the king's head {UsU, or
t3u), and the penny is, possibly, in like manner, the diminutive of the
Celtic pen, a head. TTie modem Welsh word ceiniog, a penny, is analo-
gously from cenn, a head. A shilling or skilling bore the device of a
shield or schild, and a SCUDO had a scutum. An eagle, an angel, and
a kreutzer bear respectively the American eagle, an angel, and a cross.
English GROATS, like the German groschen, were the ^ai/ coins, having
been four times the size of the penny. Twenty shillings used to weigh a
POUND {pondus). So the Italian lira and French /n^^ were of the weight
of a libra. A farthing is the fourthing, or fourth part of a penny, jostas
the square furlong is the fourthling of an acre, and as the Ridings of York-
shire were the thridings or third parts of thecounty.
• Robertson, Scotland under her Early Kings, vol. iL p. 350 ; Menage,
Origines, pp. 616— 618; Hume, Geogr, Terms, p. 19; Skinner, EtymcU-
gicon, s. V.
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Vandalism — Gothic. 435
machine for weighing which was used in the Steelyard,
the London factory of the Hanse towns.^ That the
name originated in England is proved by the fact that
it is confined to this country; the French equivalent
being Romaine^ and the German ruthe.
Not the least interesting, and by far the most in-
structive, of the words that have been derived from
geographical names are those which have been furnished
by the names of nations, and which will mostly be found
to have a sort of moral significance, ethnical terms
having become ethical.
Thus, when we remember how the Vandals and the
Goths, two rude northern hordes, swept across Europe,
blotting out for a time the results of centuries of Roman
civilization, and destroying for ever many of the fairest
creations of the Grecian chisel, we are able to under-
stand how it has come about that the wanton or ignorant
destruction of works of art should go by the name of
VANDALISM, and also how the first clumsy efforts of the
Goths to imitate, or adapt to their own purposes
the Roman edifices, should be called GOTHIC.^ It is
interesting to note the stages by which this word has
ascended from being a word of utter contempt to one of
highest honour. Yet we may, at the same time, regret
that the same word — Gothic — ^should have been mis-
applied to designate that most perfect system of
Christian architecture which the northern nations, after
centuries of honest and painsful labour, succeeded in
working out slowly for themselves, and in the elabo-
: ^ See Pauli, Pictures of Old En^and^ pp. 176—203.
« Cf, Grimm, Gesch. d. £>eut, Spr, p. 475; Milman, IlisL 0/ Latin
Christianity, voL vi. p. 405.
F F 2 n \
Digitized by VjOOQIC
436 Words derived from Places,
ration of which the nations of pure Gothic blood took
comparatively little share.
The fierce and intolerant Arianism of the Visigothic
conquerors of Spain ^ has given us another word. The
word Visigoth has become BIGOT, and thus on the
imperishable tablets of language the Catholics have
handed down to perpetual infamy the name and nation
of their persecutors.
From the name of the same nation — the Goths of
Spain — are derived, curiously enough, two names, one
implying extreme honour, the other extreme contempt
The Spanish noble, who boasts that the sangre azul
of the Goths runs in his veins with no admixture, calls
himself an HIDALGO, that is, a son of the Goth, as his
proudest title. ^ Of Gothic blood scarcely less pure
than that of the Spanish Hidalgos, are the CAGOTS of
* See Brace, Races of Old World, p. 283.
« The doubtful point in this etjrmology seems to be set at rest by a pas-
sage in the romance of Gierard of Roussillon, in which Bigot is used as an
ethnic name : —
** Bigot, e Provenzal, e Rouergues,
£ Bascle, e Gasco, e Bordales."
See Michel, Hist da Races Maudites, vol i. p. 539. This seems, there-
fore, to be a more probable etymology than any of those which are orfi-
narily given. The explanation of Menage, Origines, p. 116, from Bi ^oty
the Norman oath, is out of the question. That proposed by Wachter, and
supported by Trench, Study of Words, p. 80 ; and by Wedgwood, PkUff-
logical Trans, for 185$, p. 1 13 — 1 1 6, from the beguins, or Franciscans,
involves serious phonetic difficulties. That from bigotte, a moustache, is
almost a ta-rtpou •Kp6rtpov, for bigotte, a moustache, is itself probably from
Visigoth. Compare the Spanish phrase hombre de bigote, a man of fixed
purpose, and the French un vieux moustache, Cf. Ford, GcUhtrings from
Spain, p. 256. Bigot appears as a personal name in the case of Hugh
Bigod, Earl of Norfolk.
' The old ^tyiaoXo^' hijo c^ olgo, son of something/ has been nniTetsaUy
given up in favour of hi <P al Go, son of the Goth. See a pi^r "On Oc
and Oyl," by J. E. Biester, in the Berlin Transactions for 1812-13, tnas-
lated by Bishop Thirlwall for the Philological Museum, vol. ii p. 337.
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Bigot — Cretin — Marron. 43 7.
Southern France, a race of outcast pariahs, who in
every village live apart, executing every vile or dis-
graceful kind of toil, and with whom the poorest peasant
refuses to associate. These Cagots are the descendants
of those Spanish Goths, who, on the invasion of the
Moors, fled to Aquitaine, where they were protected by
Charles Martel. But the reproach of Arianism clung
to them, and religious bigotry branded them with the
name of dk Gots,^ or "Gothic Dogs," a name which
still clings to them, and keeps them apart from their
fellow-men. In the Pyrenees these Arian refugees were
anciently called Christaas^ and in French ChrMens^ or
Christians, probably to distinguish them from Jewish
or Moorish fugitives. Confinement to narrow valleys,
and their enforced intermarriages, often resulted in the
idiotcy of the children, and the name of the outcasts of
the Pyrenees has been transferred to the poor idiotic
wretches who, under the name CRETINS, are painfully
familiar to Swiss tourists.* The word gottre is not, as
has been thought, derived from the name of these Gothic
refugees, but is a corruption of the Latin guttur^ which
we find in Juvenal : — " Quis tumidum guttur miratur in
Alpibus."»
The MARRONS of Auvergne are a race of pariahs,
descended from the Mauriens or Moorish conquerors of
1 From the Proven9al cd, canis, or the B^arnais caas^ and Got, Goth.
This etymology, first proposed by De Marca, and stamped with the ap-
proval of Scaliger, is now generally adopted. Compare the French
cagpteru, bigotry. See Michel, Histoire des Races Maudites, vol. i. pp. 284,
294, 355 ; and a paper by the same author in vol. i. of Z^ Moyen Age et la
JRenaistance ; Manage, Origines, pp. 165 — 171 ; Diez, EtymoL W^rUrbuch,
p. 584.
. * See Michel, Histoire des Races MauditeSy vol. i. pp. 59, 162, 180, &c.
* Juvenal, Sat xiil 1. 162.
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438 Words derived from Places.
the Maurienne. Hence the French word marrane, a
renegade or traitor, and the Spanish adjective marrano^
accursed, and the substantive marrano, a hog.^
Again, when we remember how the soldierlike fidelity,
and the self-reliant courage* of the Franks enabled
them with ease to subjugate the civilized but eflfeminate
inhabitants of northern Gaul, we can understand how
the name of a rude German tribe has come to denote
the FRANK, bold, open, manly character of a soldier
and a freeman, and the word FRANCHISE to denote the
possession of the full civil rights of the conquering race.*
In the south-east of Gaul the Roman element of the
population had ever been more considerable than else-
where, and in this region the influence of the northern
conquerors was comparatively transient Hence the
langue doc, or language of Provence, the Roman Pro-
vincia, was called the Romance, retaining as it did a
much greater resemblance to the language of the
Romans than the langue d^oyl^ the tongue of that part
of Gaul which had been conquered and settled by the
Franks. Here, in the region of the Languedoc, civi-
lization was first re-established ; here was the first home
of chivalry ; here the troubadour learned to beguile the
leisure of knights and ladies with wild tales of adventure
and enchantment — ROMANCES, ROMANTIC narratives —
^ See p. no, supra; Michel, Histoire des Races Maudita^ voL ii.
PP- 45, 9^ ; Manage, Origines, p. 451.
' So the haughty character of the Norman conquerors, wdl fflnstimted
by the story of Rollo*s homaging, explains how the French norois (nor-
mand) came to mean proud. Diez» Gram, der R<nn, Spr, voL L p. 47.
> I agree with Leo, VorUfungm, vol. L p. 455, that the argnments of
Jacob Grimm, Geschichte d, Deut. Sprach. p. 512, on the name of the Franks
exhibit virtually a timpov vp^^pov, Cf. Diez, £/ym, WorUrhsck, p. 153 ;
Diefcnbach, Vergieich, Worterbuck, vol i. p. 403 ; Diez, Gram, darRomu
Spr, voL L p. 47.
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Romance — Gdisconade, 439
so called because sung in the Romance tongue of the
Roman province.^
In the south-west of Gaul, on the other hand, the
Celtic or Celtiberic element of the original population
was little influenced either by Roman colonization, or
by Prankish or Gothic conquest. The Gascons afforded
an exhibition of the peculiar characteristics of the Celtic
stock — they were susceptible, enthusiastic, fickle, vain,
and ostentatious.^ The random and boastful way of
talking in which these Gascons were prone to indulge,
has, from them, received the name gasconade.*
The Langobardes, or Lombards, who settled in
Northern Italy, appear to have been distinguished by
national characteristics very different from those of
Frank, Gascon, Goth, Visigoth, or Vandal, They seem
to have been actuated by the spirit of commercial rather
than of chivalrous adventure ; and at an early period we
find them competing with the Jews as the capitalists
? Diez, Etym. JVHrterbuch, p. 295 ; Manage, Origines^ pp. 565 — 572 ;
Sheppard, Fall of Rome, p. 133,
« See p. 234, si^rii,
* The Spaniards call the Basque language, the ^drjrtm^fo^. rodomontade,
a word of somewhat similar meaning, is derived from Rodomonte, a brag*
gart who figures in Ariosto's poem of Orlando Furioso. The immortal ro<
manceof Cervantes has given us the word quixotic, hectoring comes from
" Sir Hector" of Troy, gibberish comes from Geber, an obscure eastern
writer on alchemy, and fudge, perhaps, from a certain Inventive Captain
Fudge, who flourished in the reign of Charles II. burlesque, in Italian
burlesco or Bemiesco^ is derived from Francesco Bemia, who invented this
species of composition. . alexandrines and leonines probably from a
French poet, Alexandre Pllris, and the monk Leo, of Marseilles. We
speak of the Spenserian stanza, and a Ciceronian style. The summary
proceedings of Judge lynch have given our American cousins a verb of
which they stood in need. The words bogus (Borghese), and blenkerism
hand down to fame the names of two other transatlantic worthies, while
BURKING is the peculiar glory of this island. See Bowditch, Suffolk Sur^
names^ pp. 256—258,
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440 Wards derived from Places.
and pawnbrokers^ of the middle ages. As we have
already seen,^ Lombard Street — ^still the street of bankers
—marks the site of the Lombard colony in London ; *
and the Lombards have left their name not only in our
streets but in our language, as a curious witness to the
national characteristics which distinguished them from
the other tribes which overran the Roman Empire. A
lumber-room is the Lombard room,* the room where
the Lombard pawnbrokers stored their unredeemed
pledges. Hence, after a time, furniture stowed away in
an unused chamber came to be called LUMBER ; and
since such furniture is often heavy, clumsy, and out of
date, we call a clumsy man a lumbering fellow; and
our American cousins have given heavy timber the name
of lumber, and call the man who fells it a lumberer
— a curious instance of the complicated process of
word manufacture — ^by which the name of a barbarous
German tribe has been transferred to American back-
woodsmen.
When the Bulgarians and Huns, under Attila, overran
the Roman Empire, the terror which they inspired was
due not only to their savage ferocity, but in part to the
hideousness of the Kalmuck physiognomy, with its high
^ The Sicilian word lumbardu^ an innkeeper, shows that the Lombards
also exercised this calling. Diez, Eiym, Warier^tuh, p. 676. There is an
old French adjective, lombart^ usurious. Thom. de Cant Ed. Bekker,
p. 41 ; apud Diez, Etym, W^rtethich^ p. 676.
> See p. 282, supra,
> The Caorsini, i.e, the men of Cahors (Bept Lot), were in mediieval
times the rivals of the Lombards in the money-markets of Europe. Tlidr
name, however, has not been perpetuated to the same extent as that of the
Lombards, having left only the Proven9al yrot^ckaorcinj a usurer. Hallam,
Middle Ages^ voL iii. p. 405 ; Ducange, s. v.
^ French lombard^ a pawnshop. See the passages cited by Trench, GUs-
sary, p. 127.
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Lumber — Ogre — Fiend — Slave. 441
cheek bones, and grinning boar-tushed visage. Their
name became the synonym for an inhuman monster.
Hence the German ^une, a giant,^ the French Bulgar, or
Bougre? the Russian Obri, and the English OGRE.*
When the Asi approached Scandinavia they found
the shores peopled by wandering Finns, whom tradition
represents as malignant imps and deformed demons,
lurking among rocks and in the forest gloom. Hence,
it has been thought, have arisen the words FIEND and
FIENDISH, and the German geinb, an enemy.*
The relations of the Sclavonic races of Eastern Europe
to their western neighbours is also indicated by a curious
piece of historical etymology. The martial superiority
of the Teutonic races enabled them, as we have seen,
gradually to advance their frontier toward the east, and
in so doing, to keep their slave markets supplied with
captives taken from the Sclavonic tribes. Hence, in all
the languages of Western Europe, the once glorious
name of SCLAVE has come to express the most degraded
condition of man.^ What centuries of violence and
^ The Norse word for a giant is JOTUNN, ue. Jute or Goth. Schafarik,
Slaw. Alt, vol. L pp. 50, 52.
' The Bulgarians were given to manichseism, hence the French word
dougerUy heresy. Cf. Ducange, s. v. Bulgarus ; Diez, Etym, IVorUrbuch^
p. 576 ; Menage, Origines^ p. 131.
* The Ogres or Ugrians, to which stock the Bulgarians and Magyars
belong, were the tribes north of the UraL The ethnic name of the Ugrians
seems to have become Ogres^ from a fancied connexion with Orcus, analo-
gous to that of the Tatars with Tartarus, which has been already referred.
to (p. 396, supra). Compare Prichard, Researches^ vol. iii. pp. 273, 324 ;
Grimm, Deut. Myth. p. 454 ; Diez, Etym, Wtirterbuchy p. 244 ; Wilson,
I*re-historic Martf vol. ii. p. 302.
* Palgrave, English Commomoealth^ voL i. p. 103.
» See p. 44, supra,
* The word sclave, in the sense of setvus^ appears first in Lombardy, in
the ninth centuiy. The earliest known occurrence of the word in Germany is
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442 Words derived from Places.
warfare does the history of this word disclose! and the
contempt and hatred of race which the use of the word
implies, is strongly shown by the fact that even so late' as
the last century no person of Sclavonic blood was admis-
sible into any German guild of artisans or merchants.*
We have, however, an earlier and an analogous case
of word-formation, which has not attracted the* same
attention as the word slave. That Sclavonic people
which was in the closest geographical proximity to Italy
called themselves Serbs or Servians,* and it seems
probable that the Latin word servusy and our own deri-
vative SERF, originated from causes similar to those
which have given us the word slave. The probability
of this being the true etymology of servus is much
increased by the numerous parallel cases of ethnic terms
being perverted to be the designation of servile races.
The manner in which the words Davus, Geta, and Syrus
are applied to slaves in the Graeco-Latin comedies*
exhibits in a half completed state the same linguistic
process which has given us the words slave and serf, and
at the same time indicates that the Grecian slave
markets must have been largely supplied by Dacians,
Goths, and Syrians.* Aristophanes uses the word
in the year 996 : — '* Ex:clesiae servos vel sdavos.^ Schafarik, Slaw, Aiiertk,
vol. ii. p. 27 ; Monumenta boica, 28, I, p. 267, quoted by Mone, Cdtuckt
Forschungen^-p, 251.
^ See Schafarik, Slaw, Alterth, vol ii. p. 42 ; Amdt, Europ. Sprtuk,
p. 291 ; Donaldson, New Crafylus^ p. 385 ; Varronianus, p. 66 ; Gibbon,
chap. Iv. vol. viL p. 76 ; Palgrave, Normandy and England^ vol. i. p. 379 ;
Sheppard, Fall of Rome, p. 143 ; Zeuss, Die Deutschaiy p. 646 ; Pictet,
Orig. Indo-Eur. part ii. p. 204.
• The root s-rb denotes " kinsmanship." The modem usage of the
word servility is an illustration of the habits engendered by a state of
slavery.
Pott, in Kuhn's Zeitschrify vol ix. p. 2 1 6. We have also the less fie-
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Servile Races. 443
a-Kvffatva in the sense of a female house-servant* The
word SovXof is probably derived from the A(iXo7re9>a subject
race of Thessaly ; and the HELOTS were the aboriginal
inhabitants of the Peloponnesus, who were reduced to
slavery at the time of the Dorian conquest. The rich
treasure-house of language has preserved a curious me-
morial of the fact that the Saxon conquest of England
was accompanied by a reduction to servitude of the
indigenous race. Till within the last three centuries the
word VILLAIN retained the meaning of a peasant^ In
Domesday the villani are the praedial serfs. The root
of the word is, not improbably, the Anglo-Saxon
wealky a foreigner, or Welshman,* an etymology
which, if correct, proves that servitude must have
been the ordinary condition of the Celts under Saxon
rule.*
We have a somewhat analogous case in British India.
Porters and palanquin-bearers go by the name of
COOLIES, a name which has been extended to include
the Indian labourers who have replaced the negro
slaves in the sugar plantations of Tropical America.
The word Coolie is a corruption of the name of a
qnent sUye-names A^cmt, in Theocritns (v. 5), Nc0Vi|r/Wir, in Plantns, and
errra\oi«c^ri|s, in Athenseus (vi. 264).
1 So St Paul uses Sictf^s as an equivalent of barbarian. Colossians,
chap. ill. V. II.
s The change to the present meaning of the word is analogous to that
-which has transformed the significations of boor (bauer, or peasant), knave
(boyX and imp (child).
s See pp. 62 — 64, supra, Scha&rik, Slaw, Alterth. vol. i p. 50. The
-word vUe may be from the same root, wecUk, Ibid. vol. L p. 377. Much
may doubtless be said in favour of the old derivation of these words from
the Latin viUa and vUis. But at all events we may believe that the obvious
Xeutonic analogy exercised a reflex influence on the usage of the words.
> QL the name of the TeilfiOi of Poitou.
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444 Words derived from Places,
Turanian hill-tribe, the Coles or K61as, who occupy the
lowest place in the Indian labour-market^
The word Kip is used in Greek to denote a mercenary
soldier, the Carians having habitually hired themselves
out to fight the battles of their neighbours. In like
manner the Shawi, a tribe of desert nomads, were en-
listed by the French after their Algerian conquest, and
the name has been corrupted into ZOUAVE, while the
ranks are filled by the gamins of the streets of Paris.*
The word Sikh may possibly be destined to undeigo a
similar change of meaning.
The luxurious sensuality which prevailed at Sybaris
has attached a disgraceful signification to the word
SYBARITE, and the moral corruption which poisoned the
mercantile and pleasure-loving city of Corinth caused the
word Kopiv0Ld^€a6ai to become a synonym for kraipuv?
just as the more healthy pleasures of the Sicelian peasant
made the word aLKekl^eiv equivalent to opx^l^rdai* The
dry upland sheep pastures of the Peloponnesus, and the
rich corn-flats of Thebes have given us the two adjectives
ARCADIAN and BOEOTIAN. An heroic man we call a
TROJAN, a morose man a TURK, a benevolent man a
good SAMARITAN, and "catching a TATAR" is a process
more familiar than agreeable. The terse, pregnant way
in which the Spartans expressed themselves still causes
us to talk of LACONIC speech,* the pithy wit of the
Athenians has left us the phrase ATTIC salt, and the
1 Brace, Races of the Old Worlds p. 103.
« Ibid. p. 172.
s See Becker, Charicles, p. 246.
* Miiller, Dorians^ voL iL p. 339.
* The Italian word iadino, easy, shows that Latin was the easiest lan-
guage for an Italian to acquire. Compare the German deutiich, plain, and
our own phrase, " It is Greek to me."
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Words derived from Ethnic Names. 445
bitter laughter of the Sardinians is commemorated in
the expression, " a SARDONIC smile."
From Thrax, a Thracian, the Romans, by the change
of a single letter, derived the word threx, a gladiator, a
fact which indicates the region from which the arena
was supplied with hardy mountain combatants. The
usage of the words K/cwJ?, 1X0^X070)^, and Mi;<ro9 would
prove equally suggestive.^
The word BRIGAND, as we have seen,^ is not im-
probably derived from the name of the Brigantes, or
perhaps from Briga, a border town near Nice. The
word brigant first appears in the sense of a light-armed
soldier, and then it takes the meaning of a robber.
Next we find brigante, a pirate ; and the pirate's ship is
called a brigantine, of which the word brig is a con-
traction.8
"Jeddart justice," which denotes the practice of
hanging the criminal first and trying him afterwards,
is a reminiscence of the wild border life of which the
town of Jedbuigh was the centre.
From Tarifa the Moorish cruisers sallied forth to
plunder the vessels passing through the Straits of
Gibraltar, but discovering the impolicy of killing the
goose that laid the golden egg, they seem to have levied
their black mail on a fixed scale of payment, which,
from the name of the place where it was exacted, came
to be called a TARIFF.*
1 See Donaldson, Varnmianus, p. 449 ; Miiller, Dorians, vol. ii. p. 300;
Schafkrik, Slaw. Alierth. vol. i p. 5a.
« See p. a55, si^ra,
s See Diez, Etymolog, Worterbuckt p. 69 ; Menage, Origines^ p. 149.
4 See, however, Freytag, s. v. \ Diez, Efymol, IVorterlmchf p. 342 ; and
Pihan, Ghssaire, p. 371, who prefer a derivation from the Arabic *ta^ri/, a
declaration. The word to sally is no doubt from satire^ though there is a
Digitized by VjOOQIC
446 Words derived from Places.
The word CANNIBAL is probably a corruption of the
name of the Caribs or Caribals, a savage West Indian
people, among whom the practice of cannibalism was
supposed to prevail.^ The horrible custom of scalping
fallen enemies was usual among the Scythian tribes,
and Herodotus gives us a picture of the string of bloody-
trophies hanging to the warrior's rein. Hence arose
the word diroaKvOl^etv, to scalp, which we find in
Euripides. The word ASSASSIN probably comes from
the name of a tribe of Syrian fanatics who, like the
Thugs of India, considered assassination in the light of
a religious duty.^
During the last century false political rumours were
often propagated from Hamburg, then the chief port of
communication with Germany. " A piece of Hamburg
news " seems to have become a proverbial expression for
a canard, and it is easy to see how this phrase has been
pared down into the modem slang term HUMBUG.' The
expressive American term BUNCUM is due to the
temptation to deduce it from Sallee, another chief station of the Moorish
pirates. Conair is certainly not from Corsica ; though, possiblj, riff raff
may be derived from the Riff pirates.
1 Trench, Study of Words, p. 137.
> Diefenbach (CelHca, i. p. 24) derives the name from the Kurdish word
asen or hassifty iron. The name of the tribe, perhaps, oomes firom the
hashishy an intoxicating preparation of hemp with which the members of
the sect worked themselves up to the requisite degree of recklessness
Manage, Origines, p. 64 ; Pihan, Ghssaire, 'pp. 43, 147 ; De Sacy, in
Memoires deVImtUuieiox 1818, apud Diez, Etym, WorUrbuch, p. 29.
s See Outlines of Humbug, a brochure ascribed to the late An:hbi8faop
Whately. The word has also been derived from an alchemist named
Hombeig, who professed to have discovered the Philosopher's stone.
Hotten, Slang Dictionary, p. 157. The analogous slang word Bosa has, I
imagine, been imported from the Cape, the metaphor having been taken
from the rubbishing and worthless " bush," which is burned regulariy evcrr
autumn. See, however, Hotten, Slang Diet p. 81.
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Humbug — Spruce — Saunter, 447
member for the county of Buncombe, in North Carolina.
In the State Legislature he made a speech, full of high-
flown irrelevant nonsense, and when called to order he
explained that he was not speaking to the House, he was
talking to Buncombe. Castle blarney is, of course, in
Ireland, and the famous stone can still be seen and
kissed by those who desire to test its virtues. By a good-
natured allusion to another peculiarity of our Irish
fellow-countrymen, we term a certain characteristic
confusion of ideas an Hibemianism.
A SPRUCE person was originally a person dressed
in the Prussian fashion. Thus Hall, the chronicler,
describes the appearance of Sir Edward Haward and
Sir Thomas Parre "in doblettes of crimosin veluet,
voyded lowe on the backe, and before to the cannell
bone, lased on the breastes with chaynes of siluer, and
ouer that shorte clokes of crimosyn satyne, and on their
heades hattes after dauncers fashion, with feasauntes
fethers in theim : They were appareyled after the fashion
of Prusia or Spruce."^
Though the pilgrims of the eighth and succeeding
centuries were often only " commercial travellers," and
still more frequently "vacation tourists,"^ and although
the visitation of foreign shrines did much to dispel na-
tional prejudices and to unite nations, yet we may be
glad, on moral as well as on religious grounds, that the
practice of pilgrimages, which formed so noticeable a
feature in the life of the Middle Ages, has now ceased,
at least among ourselves ; for in the word SAUNTERER
we have a proof that, in popular estimation, idle and
vagabond habits were acquired by those who made the
1 Hall, Chronicle, p. 513.
« Sec Thrupp, Anglo-Saxon Home, p. 241.
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44^ Words derived from Places,
pilgrimage to the Sainie Terre, or Holy Land.^ A
ROAMER was one who had visited the tombs of the two
Apostles at Rome, and this word conveys also in its
present usage an intimation of unsettled habits similar
to that which is contained in the word saunterer. The
Italian word romeo implies no moral censure, but means
simply a pilgrim ; and hence we may perhaps infer, that
where the distance to be traversed was small, the evil
effects of the pilgrimage were not so manifest
From the Canterbury pilgrimages to the shrine of
St. Thomas comes the word CANTER,* which is an
abbreviation of the phrase "a Canterbury gallop"* — the
easy ambling pace of the pilgrims as they rode along
the grassy lane which follows the foot of the North
Downs of Kent for many miles, and which still retains
its title of the Pilgrims' Road.
St. Fiacre (Fiachra) was an Irish saint of great
renown, who established himself as a hermit at Meaux,
some five-and-twenty miles from Paris. His tomb
became a great place of pilgrimage, which was per-
formed even by royal personages, such as Anne of
Austria. The miracle-working shrine being frequented
by many infirm persons who were unable to perform
the pilgrimage on foot, carriages were kept for their
convenience at an inn m the suburbs of Paris, which had
1 The Palestine pilgrims were also caJHeA palmers^ from the palm branches
which they brought home with them from the Holy Sepulchre.
' The word canter is not found in any continental language, as it would
be, if it were derived, as has been supposed, from cantherius, a gelding.
See Wedgwood, £ng, Eiym, vol. i p. 295 ; Stanley, Memorials of Cam'
terbury, p. 196.
s It is possible that the word gaUop may be in like manner connected
with Galoppe in Flanders. Diefenbach derives it from wedUity to wander.
From the Cheviot hills we have the slang verb to chevy, a reminiscence
of Chevy Chase.
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Canter — Fiacre — Tawdry, 449
the sign of St. Fiacre ; and now, long after the pilgri-
mages have ceased, the hired carriages of Paris retain
the name of FIACRES.^
St. Etheldreda, or, as she was commonly called, St
Awdrey, was the patron saint of the Isle of Ely. She
is said to have died of a swelling in the throat, which
she considered as a judgment on her for her youthful
fondness for necklaces. Hence, at the fair held at the
time of the annual pilgrimage, it Was the custom for the
pilgrims to purchase, as mementoes of their journey,^
chains of lace or silk, which were called " St. Awdrey's
chains." These being of a cheap and flimsy structure,
the name of St Awdrey, corrupted into tawdry, has
come to be the designation of cheap lace and showy
finery.^
1 See M^age, Origines^ p. 31$ ; Alban Butler, Lives of the Saints ;
Yonge, Christian Names^ vol. ii. p. 97.
' So keys were brought away by the romeos ^ho had visited the tomb of
St Peter, palm-branches by the palmers from the Holy Land, and scallop-
shells from the sea-shore near Compostelia. St. James* day is still com-
memorated by London urchins by oyster-shell grottos, for the construction
of which the contributions of passers-by artf solicited^ On the various
signs of pilgrimage see the description of a pilgrim in Piers Ploughman,
lines 3541— 3552 J—
" A boUe and a bag^e
He bar by his syde,
And hundred of ampuUes
On hisr hat seten,
Signes of Syna^,
And shelles of Galice^
And many tf croiiche on his eloke,
And keyes of Rome,
And the vemyclc bi-fore ;
For men sholde knowne.
And se bi hise signes,
Whom he sought hadde."
» See Notes and Queries, second series, voL xi. pp. 226, 300 ; Taylor, An^
ttqtatates Curiosa, p. 65 ; Stanley, Memorials of Canterbury, p. 221.
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450 Words derived from Places.
In a wild district of Derbyshire, between Macclesfield
and Buxton, there is a village called Flash, surrounded
by uninclosed land. The squatters on these commons,
with their wild gipsy habits, travelled about the neigh-
bourhood from fair to fair, using a slang dialect of their
own. They were called the Flash men, and their dialect
Flash talk ; and it is not difficult to see the stages by
which the word FLASH has reached its present signi-
fication.1 A SLANG is a narrow strip of waste land by
the roadside, such as those which are chosen by gipsies
for their encampments. To be " out on the slang," in
the lingo used by thieves and gipsies, means to travel
about the country as a hawker,^ encamping by night on
the roadside slangs, A travelling show is also called
a slang. It is easy to see how the term was transferred
to the language spoken by hawkers and itinerant show-
men.^ The phrase, "using BILLINGSGATE," which has
spread from England to America, reminds us that the
language of London fishwives is not so choice as their
fish ; and " a BABEL of sounds," refers to the confusion
of tongues at the Tower of Babylon or Babel.
A few remaining terms, derived from places, may be
here collected.
The winding river MEANDER has given us a verb ; and
the name of the RUBICON has now almost passed into
our vocabulary. From the Moriscoes of Spain we have
the words MORRIS boards, and MORRIS dances.*
1 Smiles, Lives of the Engineers, voL li. p. 307;
' Hotten, Siang Dictionary, p. 234,
> A writer in Notes and Queri^^ second series, vol. xi. p. 471, andvoL m.
p. 445, derives slang from jlie name of the Dutch General Slangenbeig,
who commanded a part of the English forces, and whose unintelligible ob-
jurgations seem to have puzzled the troops under his command.
- * Skinner, Etymologicon, s. v. ; Drake, Shakspeare and his Times^ voL i,
pp. 157, 158.
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Flash — Bedlam— Palace. 45 1
Political parties have sometimes assumed names
derived from local sources. The leaders of the GIROND-
ISTS were the deputies from the department of the
Gironde. The jacobins took their name from the
convent of St. James, in which the meetings of the
revolutionary club were held, A TEMPLAR now studies
law in the former residence of the crusading Knights of
the Temple of Jerusalem. The Court of Arches was
originally held in the arches of Bow Church — St. Mary
de Arcubus — the crypt of which was used by Wren to
support the present superstructure. When we talk of
finding ourselves in a perfect BEDLAM we do not always
remember that the rapacity and the vandalism of the
English Reformers were redeemed by some good deeds
— one of which was the assignment of the Convent of
St Mary of Bethlehem for the reception of lunatics,
who used previously to be chained to a post, if indeed
they, were not left utterly uncared for. The hospital of
St. Lazarus, at Naples, has, in a somewhat similar way,
given a name to those who would be its most fitting
occupants — the Neapolitan LAZZARONI.
The porch of a cathedral is called the GALILEE,
probably because to the crusaders and pilgrims advanc-
ing from the North, Galilee formed the frontier or
entrance to the Holy Land.^
On the Mons Palatinus — a name the etymology of
which carries us back to the time when sheep were
bleating on the slope * — was the residence of the Roman
1 Stanley, Sinia and Palestine, p. 356.
* So the CERAMicus, or "Potter's field," at Athens, was converted into
the most beautiful quarter of the city, containing the academy, lyceum, &c.
The name of the TUtLERiES denotes that the site was once a " Tile yard ; "
and that of the escurial shows that the palace was built upon a "heap
of refuse from an exhausted mine." Seep. 29O1 supra,
G G 2 n \
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452 Words derived from Places,
emperors, which, from its site, was called the Palati(n)um,
or Palatium. Hence the word PALACE has come to be
applied to all royal or imperial residences. The Count
Palatine was, in theory, the official who had the super-
intendence of the household of the Carolingian empe-
rors. As the foremost of the twelve peers of France,
the Count Palatine took a prominent place in mediae-
val romance, and a PALADIN is the impersonification of
chivalrous devotion. His feudal fief was the Palatinate
— ^the rich Rhine valley above Frankfort. The counties
Palatine of Chester, Durham, and Lancaster, are so called
on account of the delegated royalty — thtjura regalia
— formerly exercised by the Earls of Chester, the Bishops
of Durham, and the Dukes of Lancaster.^ It is one of
the curiosities of language that a petty little hill-slope
in Italy should have thus transferred its name to a hero
of romance, to a German state, to three English counties,
to a glass house at Sydenham, and to all the royal
residences in Europe.*
1 Pembroke and Hexham, also march or border towns, had palatine
rights. Lappenberg, Anglo-Saxon Kings, voL ii. p. 62,
« See Yonge, Christian Names, vol iL p. 353 ; Manage, Origims, p. 506;
MaxMuUeri Lectures, second series, p. 251.
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TJie Science of Names. 45 j
CHAPTER XVII.
ONOMATOLOGY ;
OR, THE PRINCIPLES OF NAMB-GHriNG.
Dangers which hesd the Etymologic— -RuUs of InvestigatioH — Names in
the United States — List of some of the chief components of Local Names,
The study of local names can, as yet, hardly claim
the dignity of a science. With the exception of Ernst
Forstemann, those who have written on the subject have
too often been contented to compile collections of " things
not generally known," without attempting either to
systematize the facts which they have brought together,
or to deduce any general principles which might serve
to guide the student in his researches.
There are few subjects, perhaps;, in which such
numerous dangers beset the inquirer. The patent
blunders, and the absurdly fanciful explanations of ety-
mologists have become a byeword. It may be well,
therefore, to clear the way for a scientific treatment of
the subject by an examination of some of these sources
of error, and by the suggestion of a few obvious rules
which should be constantly kept in view by those
who attempt the investigation of the meaning of ancient
names.
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454 Onofnatology.
The fundamental principle to be borne in mind is an
axiom which alone makes the study of local names
possible, and which has been tacitly assumed in the
title of this volume, and throughout the preceding
chapters. This axiom asserts that local names are in
no case arbitrary sounds. They are always ancient
WORDS, or fragments of ancient words — each of them,
in short, constituting the earliest chapter in the local
history of the PLACES to which they severally refer.
Assuming, therefore^ as axiomatic, the significancy of
local names, it need hardly be said that in endeavouring
to detect the meaning of a geographical name, the first
requisite is to discover the language from which the
name has been derived. The choice will mostly lie
within narrow limits — geographical and historical con-
siderations generally confining our choice to the three
or four languages which may have been vernacular in
the region to which the name belongs. No interpre-
tation of a name can be admitted, however seemingly
appropriate, until we have first satisfied ourselves of the
historical possibility, not to say probability, of the
proposed etymology. For example, LAMBETH, as we
have seen, is a Saxon name, meaning the loam-hithe,
or muddy landing-place. We must not, as a Saturday
Reviewer has amusingly observed, plume ourselves on
the discovery that lama is a Mongolian term for a chief
priest, and beth a Semitic word for a house, and thus
interpret the name of the place where the primate lives
as the " house of the chief priest*' ^
^ Etymologies quite as absurd have been seriously propounded. Thns
Jacobi, in his BedetUung der bohmischen Dorfnamen^ derives from the
Sclavonic the names of Jerusalem, Jericho, Africa, the Tigris, and the
Euphrates. His absurdities are, if possible, suipassed by Geoi^ ^rer>
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Rules of Investigation. 45 5
In the next place the earliest documentary form of
the name must be ascertained. In the case of an
English name Kemble's collection of Anglo-Saxon
Charters,^ Domesday Book, and Dugdale, must be
diligently searched. For Scottish names Innes' Origines
Parochiales Scotice will generally supply the necessary
information. For names in France, the Dictionnaire des
toutes les Communes de la France, by Girault de Saint
Fargeau, may often be consulted with advantage. But
if the name to be investigated occurs in Germany, all
trouble will be saved by a reference to Forstemann's
systematic list of mediaeval German names — the Alt--
deutsches Namenbuch — a work which only a German
could have conceived or executed, and which, even in
Germany, must be considered a marvellous monument
of erudite labour.
If no early form of the name can be discovered, we
must, guided by the analogy of similar names, endeavour
to ascertain it by conjecture, bearing carefully in mind
those well-known laws of phonetic change to which
reference has already been made.*
This having been done, it remains to interpret the
name which has been thus recovered or reconstructed.
To do this with success requires a knowledge of the
ancient grammatical structure and the laws of compo--
who, in his Vulgar Errors Ancunt and Modern^ derives from Welsh roots
ail Scriptural names — Adam and Eve, Shem, Ham, and Jsephet, the Nile,
the four rivers of Paradise, &c. ; and he naively says of those who refuse to
accept his absurdities, "Our mistakes . . . a£ford melancholy instances of
want of judgment, . . . and they prove that our opinions may not rest so
much on rational grounds, as on weak imaginations, which in such cases as
herein cited produce ridiculous and chimerical allusions or ludicrous and
delusive explanations/' — p. Lxxxv.
^ Codex Diphmaticus ^vi Saxonici,
• See pp. 382, 383, supra.
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4S6 Onomatology.
sition which prevailed in the language in which the name
is significant* — the relative position, for instance, of ad-
jective and substantive,* and the usage of prepositions
and formative particles.
Great aid will be derived from the analog of other
names in the same neighbourhood. A sort of epidemic
seems to have prevailed in the nomenclature of certain
districts, There is hardly a single English county, or
French province, or German principality, which does
not possess its characteristic clusters of names — all con-
structed on the same type.* The key that will unlock
one of these names will probably also unlock the rest of
those in the same group.
Having thus arrived at a probable interpretation of
the name in question, we must proceed to test the
result. If the name be topographic or descriptive, we
must ascertain if it conforms to the physical features of
the spot ; if, on the other hand, the name be historic in
its character, we must satisfy ourselves as to the historic
possibility of its bestowal
This scientific investigation of names is not, indeed,
always possible. In the case of the Old World, the
simple-minded children of semi-barbarous times have
unconsciously conformed to the natural laws which
regulate the bestowal of names. The names of the Old
^ For Celtic names, the Grammatic(k CelticOy of Zeuss, will be found in-
dispensable, and for Teutonic names, Grimm*s Deutsche Grammatik,
« See p. 223, supra,
3 The local names invented by our popular novelists frequently set all
(Etymological propriety at defiance. We have all sorts of impossible com-
pounds, we have thotpes^ holpts^ and thwaUes in Wessex, Cornish namo
in Wales, and Kentish forms in the Midland counties. Mrs. Howitt*s
novel of The Cost of Caergwyn forms a praiseworthy exception to the
general rule.
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Names in the United States, 457
World may be systematized — ^they describe graphically
the physical features of the country, or the circumstances
of the early settlers.
But in the New World, settled, not by savages but
by civilized men, a large proportion of the names are
thoroughly barbarous in character. We find the map of
the United States thickly bespattered with an incon-
gruous medley of names — ^for the most part utterly
inappropriate, and fulfilling very insufficiently the chief
purposes which names are intended to fulfil. In every
State of the Union we find repeated, again and again,
such unmeaning names as Thebes, Cairo, Memphis,
Troy, Rome, Athens, Utica, Big Bethel, and the like.
What a poverty of the inventive faculty is evinced by
these endless repetitions, not to speak of the intolerable
impertinence displayed by those who thus ruthlessly
. wrench the grand historic names from the map of the
Old World, and apply them, by the score, without the
least shadow of congruity, to collections of log huts in
some Western forest. The incongruity between the
names and the appearance of some of these places is
amusing. Thus Corinth "consists of a wooden grog-
shop and three log shanties; the Acropolis is repre-
sented by a grocery store All that can be seen of
the city of Troy ... is a timber house, three log huts, a
saw mill, and twenty negroes." ^
The more ancient names in the States are for the
most part far less objectionable. Indian names, such as
Niagara, Massachusetts, Missouri, or Arkansas, though
not always euphonious, are otherwise unexceptionable.
And the same may be said of most of the names given
by the trappers and pioneers of the Far West, names
1 Russell, Diary North and Souths voL il pp. 45, 46.
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45 8 Onomatology,
such as Blue Ridge, North Fork, Pine Bluff, Red River*
Hickory Flats, Big Bone Lick, Otter Creek, and the
town of Bad Axe. Henpeck City and Louse Village,
both in California, are, to say the least, very expressive,
and the town of Why Not, in Mississippi, seems to
have been the invention of some squatter of doubtful
mind.^ Such names as Louisiana, Columbia, Pittsburg,
Charleston, New York, Albany, Baltimore, Washing-
ton, Raleigh, Franklin, or Jefferson, have an historical
significance and appropriateness which incline us to
excuse the confusion arising from the frequency with
which some of them have been bestowed* Much also
may be said in favour of names like Boston, Plymouth,
and Portsmouth, whereby the colonists have striven to
reproduce, in a land of exile, the very names of the
beloved spots which they had left. Smithtown and
Murfreesboro' may perhaps pass muster, though Browns-
ville ^ and Indianopolis have a somewhat hybrid appear-
ance, Flos, Tiny, and the other townships which a
late Canadian Governor named after his wife's Iapd(^^
are at all events distinctive names, though perhaps
showing a want of respect to the inhabitants.* But the
scores of Dresdens, Troys, and Carthages, are utterly
indefensible; they betray quite as much poverty of
invention as Twenty-fourth Street, Fifth Avenue, or
No. 10 Island, while they do not possess the practical
1 See Bowditch, Suffolk Surnames, p. 259.
* Seep. 319, Jw/zTt?,
* Brownwill or Brownwell would more correctly denote the abode tA
Brown : see p. 159, supra. The vUUs and cities which we find so profusdjr
in the States show the land-speculating and grandiose character of the
nation, just as the hams, tons, and worths of England are a proof of Anglo-
Saxon seclusiveness. See p. 118, supra,
* Quarterly Review, vol. cxvi. p. 3.
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Names in the United States. 459
advantages of the numerical system of nomenclature,
and must be a source of unending perplexity in the
post-office, the booking-office, and the schoolroom. The
geographical etymologist regards a laiige portion of the
names in the United States with feelings which are akin
to those experienced by the ecclesiologist who, having
traced with delight the national developments of the
pointed architecture of western Europe, beholds the
incongruous restorations — so called — for which the last
century is to blame, or the Pagan temples, the Eg>'ptian
tombs, and Chinese pagodas, with which architectural
plagiarists have deformed our cities. Such plagiarisms
and incongruities are as distasteful as the analogous
barbarisms with which the map of the United States
is so woefully disfigured. The further perpetration of
such aesthetic monstrosities as those to which re-
ference has been made is now happily impossible. Our
architects have taken up the idea of Gothic art, and
developed, from its principles, new and original creations,
instead of reproducing, asqiie ad nauseam^ servile copies
or dislocated fragments of ancient buildings. Would
that the same regeneration could be effected in the
practice of name-giving. If the true principles of Anglo-
Saxon nomenclature were understood, • our Anglo-
American and Australian cousins might construct an
endless series of fresh names, which might be at once
harmonious, distinctive, characteristic, and in entire con-
sonance with the genius of the language.*
' Many of the Swabian patron3rmics which have not been reproduced in
Bngland would furnish scores of new names of a thoroughly characteristic
Anglo-Saxon type, if combined with appropriate suffixes, such as ham, ton,
fauist, ley, worth, by, den, don, combe, sted, borough, thorpe, cote, stoke,
set, thwaite, and holt Thus Senningham, Wickington, Erkington, Fre-
lington, Moringham, Heimingham, Lcnnington, Teppington, Ersingham,
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460 Onomatology.
When we attempt a scientific analysis and classifi-
cation of local names, we find that by far the greater
number contain two component elements. One of these,
which in Celtic names is generally the prefix, and in
Teutonic names the suffix, is some general term mean-
ing island, river, mountain, dwelling, or inclosure, as
the case may be. Thus we have the Celtic prefixes,
Aber, Inver, Ath, Bally, Dun, Kil, Llan, Ben, Glen,
Strath, Loch, Innis, Inch ; and the Teutonic suffixes,
borough, by, bourn, den, don, ton, ham, thorpe, cote,
hurst, hill, ley, shiels, set, stow, sted, wick, worth, fell,
law, dale, gay, holm, ey, stone, and beck.
This element in names is called the "Grundwort" by
Forstemann.* We have already, in the case of river-
names, called it the substantival element. The other
component serves to distinguish the island, river, or
village, from other neighbouring idands, streams, or
villages.* This portion of the name, which we have
called adjectival, has been denominated the "Bestim-
mungswort " by Forstemann.^ It is frequently a per-
sonal name* — ^thus GRIMSBY is Grim's dwelling, ULLS-
THORPE is Ulf s village, balmaghie is the town of the
Maghies, clapham is the home of Clapha, KENSINGTON
Steslingham, Mensington, Relvington, Plenningham, Aldington, DeUdnf^-
ton, Weighingham, Ensington, Melvington, are characteristic Anglo-Saxon
names, which nevertheless do not appear in the list of English villages.
1 Forstemann, Die Deutschen Ortsnamett^ pp. 26 — 107.
* There are only about 500 German GrundmSrter^ which, variously com-
bined vrith the BestintmungsworUr^ constitute the 500,000 names which are
found upon the map of Germany. Forstemann, Oftsnawun^ p. 108.
s Forstemann, Ibid, pp. 109 — 174; Bender, Dcutschen Ortsnamtn^
pp. 97, 98.
^ While local names are frequently derived from personal names, the con-
verse has been the case in a still greater number of instances. See Pott,
Fersotunnamen^ p. 330, and passim ; Dixon, Surnamfs, passim.
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Component Elemettts of Nantes. 461
the homestead of the Kensings. In a larger number of
cases, instead of a personal name we have a descriptive
adjective denoting the relative magnitude, the relative
position or antiquity, the excellence, or, sometimes, the
inferiority of the place, the colour or nature of the soil,
or its characteristic productions.^ A full enumeration,
not to say a discussion, of these roots would occupy
a volume — a few of the more important are enumerated
below.
1 On German roots of this class, such as breit^ platt^ alt, neu, weiss^
sckwartZy &c. see Forstemann, Dk Diutschtn Ortsnameu^ and Bendar, Die
Deutschen OrtsTtamertf pp, 97,. 98.
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462 Onomatolcgy.
LIST OF SOME OF THE
CHIEF ADJECTIVAL COMPONENTS OF
LOCAL NAMES.
I. WORDS DENOTING RELATIVE MAGNITUDE.
From the Celtic word mor or nuewr, great, we have the names of
Benmore, and Fenmaen-Mawr, the great mountainsi KUmore, the great
church, and Glenmore, the great glen. Much Wenlock, Macdesfield,
Maxstoke in Warwickshire, Great Missenden, Grampound, and GranviUe,
contain Teutonic and Romance roots of the same import Similariy
MISSISSIPPI Is an Indian term of precisely the same meaning as the neigh-
bouring Spanish name Rio Grande, which, as well as the* Arabic guadal-
QUIVER (keber^ great), and the Sarmatian word wolga, signifies **thc
great river. "1
From the Celtic beg or bach, little, we have Bally begg and Inis ht^
Glydwr Each, Pont Neath Vechan, and Cwm Bychan. We find seven!
Teutonic Littleboroughs, Littleburys, Littletons and Clintons. Majorca.
and MINORCA are the greater and lesser isles, boca cuica is the
great mouth. We find the prefix broad, in Braddon, Bradley, Bradshaw,
Bradford, and Ehrenbreitstein, and some of the Stratfords and Strettoos
are probably from the root " strait," and not " street."
II. RELATIVE POSITION.
The points of the compass afford an obvious means of distingmshing
between the places of the same name. Thus we have Norfolk and SafifoDc,
Wessex, Essex, and Sussex, Northampton and Southampton, Soney,
Westmoreland, Northumberland, and Sutherland; Norton (57) and Sut-
ton (77), Norbury (7) and Sudbury (7), Easton (14) and Weston (3<5),
Eastbury (21) and Westbury (10), Easthorpe and Westhorpe^ Norl^h,
^ Miiller, U^ruche Volkstamm, voL ii. p. 105,
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Names Denoting Size — Position, 463
Sudley and Westley.i The Erse wr, the west, appears iu the name of
ORMUNDE or West Munster, as well, possibly, as in those of Ireland and
ARGYLE.*
The ZUYDER ZEE is the southern sea; dekkan means the south in
Sanskrit; and algarbe is an Arabic name meaning the west' The
OSTROGOTHS and VISIGOTHS were the eastern and western divisions of the
Goths, as distinguished from the Massagetse, or the great Goths, the chief
body of the nation.** AUSTRIA (Oestreich) is the eastern empire, West-
phalia the western plain, and the weser (anciently Wisaraha) is the
western river. ^ From the close resemblance of the sounds it is sometimes
difficult to distinguish between roots meaning the east and those meaning
the west Thus ostend in Belgium is at the west {ouest) end of the great
canal ; and ostend in Essex is the east end of the land. In Chinese, pih
and nan mean respectively north and south. Hence we have pih-king
and nan-king, the northern and southern courts ; pih-ling and nan-
ling, the northern and southern mountains ; nan-hai, the southern sea,"
and the kingdom of an-nam, or the *' peace of the south."'
PERiBA is the country "beyond" the Jordan, antiubanus is the
range "opposite" Lebanon. Transylvania is ^the country beyond the
forest-clad range of mountains which bounds Hungary to the south-east.
Hinton (14) is a common name for a village behind a hill, as in the case of
Cherry Hinton, near Cambridge.
From the German prepositions an^ in^ and s», we have the names
of Amsteg, Andermat, Imgrund, Zermatt, Zerbruggen, and Zermagem«
From the Anglo-Saxon ^/, at, we have Atford, Adstock, Otford, and
Abridge. • From the Celtic preposition ar, upon, we obtain armorica,
the land "upon the sea," and arles (ar-l(uik), the town "upon the
marsh. " * In the names of pomeranla, and of Prussia, we have the
Sclavonic preposition/^, by. With Netherby, Dibden, Dibdale, Deeping
(the low meadow), Holgate and Holloway, we may contrast High Wy-
combe, High Ercal, Upton (42), Higham, Highgate, and Highstreet.
1 See Leo, Anglo-Saxon Names, p. 10; Vilmar, OrUnamen, p. 239;
Forstemann, Ortsnanim, p. 133,
s See Betham, Gad, p. 81.
» See pp. 76, 108, supra,
* Bosworth, Origin, p. 114; Pictet, Orig. Indo-Europ. part i. p. 83;
Forstemann, Ortsnamen, p. 212.
^ Forstemann, Chtsnamen, p. 134,
« Charnock, Local Etymology, p. 159, 204; Gibson, Etym, Geogr, p. 147,
"f Quarterly Review, vol. cxvi. p. 284.
* Ingram, Saxon Chron, p. 425.
» See pp. 86, 384, supra.
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464 Onomatology,
III. RELATIVE AGE.
There are numerous English villages which go by the names of Althorp,
Alton, Elston, Elton, Eltham, Elbottle, Alcester, Aldbury, Abuiy,
Albury, Aldborough, Aldburgh, and Oldbury, and on the Continent we
find Altorf, Starwitz,^ Torres Vedras, Civita Vecchia near Rome^ and
Citta Vecchia in Malta.
On the other hand, there are in England alone more than 120 villages
called Newton, besides Newport (12), Newnham (ii), Newland {\i\
Newark, Newbiggen (17), Newbold (11), Newbottle, Newstead, Newbary,
Newby, Newcastle* (10), Newhall and Newburgh, which we may com-
pare with Continental names like Villeneuve, Villanova, Neusiedel,
Neustadt, Novgorod, Neville, Neufch&tel, Nova Zembla, Naples,— New-
foundland, and N&blus.
TV. NUMERALS.
In ancient Anglo-Saxon and German names, the numerals which most
commonly occur are four and seven, numbers which were supposed to
have a mystical meaning. Such are Sevenoaks, Klosteisieben and
Siebenbiirgen. Nine-elms dates from a later period. We have a moan-
tain group called the Twelve Pins, in Ireland, and Fiinfkirchen and Zwei*
briicken in Germany. Netmkirchen, however^ is only a corruption fA
Neuenkirchen, or New Church.' The modem names of the andent
Roman stations in the Upper Rhine valley, near Wallenstadt, are curiously
derived from the Roman numerals. We ^nd, at regular intervals, as we
proceed up the valley, the villages of Seguns, Tertzen, Quarten, Quinten
and Sewes.^
The three cities of Oea, Sabrata, and Leptis in Africa, went coIlectiTdy
by the name of tripolis." Tripoli in Syria was a joint colony from the
1 From the Sclavonic stary^ old.
s The New Castle built by the Normans on the Tyne is now Soo yeaxs
years old, yet still keeps its name ; and N&bhis (Neapolb) in Palestine is
twice that age, having been founded by Vespasian after the destruction of
Samaria. New College is one of the oldest coUeges in Oxford, having
been founded in 1386, and New Palace Yafxl, WestminstM-, is a memorial
of the palace built by Rufus.
> Bender, Ortsnamm^ p. 98. On names of this dass see Forstemaim,
Oriinanun, p. 125.
^ Tschudi, Hauptschlussdy p. 290; Holtimann, Kelten und Gtrwu
p. 137.
• Bochart, vol. iii. 479.
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Names Denoting Age — Numerals, 465
three cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Aradus.1 On the Lake Ontario there
16 the Bay of the Thousand Isles, terceira, one of the Azores, is the
third Island. The laccadives are the ten thousand islands, and the
MALDIVES are the thousand isles. The Punjab is the land of the five
rivers, and the doab* is the country between the *'two riveiB," the
Ganges and the Jumna, plynlimmon is a corruption of Pnm-lnmon,
the five hills ; and mizraim, the Biblical name of I^ypt, describes either
the ''two" bonks of the NUe, or the "two" districts of Upper and Lower
Egypt'
V, NATURAL PRODUCTIONS.
A lor larger number of names are derived from natural productions.
Mineral springs are often denoted by some corruption of the Latin word
Aquae. Thus we have Aix in Savoy, and Aix near Marseilles ; Aix la
Chapelle, or Aachen, in Rhenish Prussia ; Acqui in Piedmont ; and Dax,
or Dacqs, in Gascony. The misunderstood name Aquse Soils, or Aquae,
probably suggested to the Anglo-Saxons the name of Ake manoes ceasteri*
the invalid's city, which was changed at a later period to Bath, from a
root which also supplies names to Bakewell, anciently Badecanwylla, in
Deibyshire, and to the numerous Badens on the Continent THERMOPYLiC
took its name from the hot springs in the defile; tierra del fuego
from its volcanic fires; and reikjavxk, or "reck bay," was the Norse
settlement in the neighbourhood of the geysers,' or "boilers." hecla
was so called from the " cloak " of smoke hanging over the mountain.
' See p. 7, supra,
* The ab here is the Sanskrit and Persian word for water, which comes
to us from the Persian through the Arabic, and which we have in the word
jultf/ {jgviy rose ; and aJb^ water), as well as in shrub and syrop (schara^/
Diez, Etymol, Warterb, pp. 175, 319 ; cf. Latham, Efig. Lang, voL i.
P> 355 9 Piluin, Glossaircy p. 169 ; Engelmann, Glossaire^ p. 83.
' The word survives in Misr, the enchorial name of Cairo. Stanley^
Jeufish Churchy P« 7^ ; p. 80, supra,
* The road from London to Bath long went by the name of Akeman
Street, which survives in the name of a hollow still called Jacuman's
Bottom. Cough's Camden, vol. L p. 1 19.
* The words geyser^ yeasty gast^ gust, and ghost^ are from the same root,
which signifies something boiling, bubbling up, or overflowing. Cf. the
cognation of 4yc/40S and animus^ Pictet, Originesy pt ii. p. 540 ; Gladstone,
Homer y p. 303.
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466 Onomatology.
VESUVIUS is an Oscan namCi meaning the emitter of smoke and sparksw^
The basaltic columns of staffa are well described by its name, "the isle
of steps," a Norse name which we have repeated in the case of the basaltic
rocks of STAPPEN in Iceland.
Missouri is the muddy river, and the name may be compared with
those of the foulbeck and the lambourn ; while the names of accho
x>r acre, and of scinde, describe the sandy nature of the coontiy.*
SANDWICH is the sandy bay : we have many analogous names, such as
Sandhurst, Sandon, Sandford, Sandbach, and Peschkow, which last is
derived from pesk^ the Sclavonic word for sand.' alum bay, in the Isle
of Wight, is a modem name of the same class.
The RIO DE LA PLATA, CUT river of plate, took its tiame from a few gold
.and silver ornaments which Sebastian Cabot found in the possession of
'the natives, and which he hoped were indications of an £1 Dorado, or
golden land, in the interior. The gold coast and the ivory coast
were names appropriately bestowed by early traders. The name of the
ANDES is derived from the Peruvian word anta^ which means copper.
Many names are derived from animals. We find that of the Ox in
Oxley, and perhaps in Oxford ; ^d that of the Cow in Cowley ; f«w/, the
Sclavonic name for an ox, appears in the numes of WoIIau (14), WoUin
(6), and many other places,* We find Swine at Swindon, Swinibrd,
^d Swingfield :— Kine at Kinton .—Neat Cattle at Nutford, and Nctley ;•
and Sheep at Shipton and Shipley. The names of the Faroe Islands,
and of FAIRFIELD, a mountain in Westmoreland, are probably from the
Norse .^r, sheep.
Deer, or perhaps wild animals generally (German, Thier ; Anglo-Saxon,
dear) are found at Deerhurst and Dyrham in Gloucestershire, Dereham in
Norfolk, Dereworth in Northamptonshire, jand Derby, anciently Deoraby.
SCHWERIN, which serves as a nan^e for a German principality and three
other places in Germany, is the exact Sclavonic equivalent of Derby.
Other wild animals whose names often occur are: —
The Stag ^t Hertford and Heurtley : the Fox or Tod at Foxley, Fox-
hill, Foxhough, Todbum, ajid Todfield : the Wild Boar at Evershot and
Eversley: the Seal at Selsey : the Otter at Otterboum in Hants: the
1 Benfey, in Hofer's ZeUschrift, voLii. pp. 115, 116 ; Humboldt, Cosmos,
vol i. p. 449. See p. 358, sup^a
" See Stanley, Sinai and Pa., p. 264.
• Buttmann, OrisnameHy p. 103.
Buttmann, Ibid. p. 122.
Morris, Local Etymology^ p. 10.
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Natural Productions. 467
Beaver at Beverley and Nant Fnmgon : ^ the Badger, or Broc, at Bagshot,
at Broxboume, and at Brokenborongh in Wilts, anciently Broken-eber-egge,
or Badger-boar-comer, s
The Crane is found at Cranboume, and the Eagle at Eamley in Sussex,
and Arley in Warwickshire, both of which are written EamcleAh in the
Saxon charters.
Ely was once famous for the excellence of its eels. In the Isle of Ely
rents used to be paid in eels.
The Norse word for a salmon is lax» Hence we have Laxvoe, or
" salmon bay " in Shetland, Loch Laxford in Sutherland, the Laxay, or
" salmon river,*' in the Hebrides, and also in Cantire, and the river Laxey
in the Isle of Man, and five rivers called Laxa, in Iceland. We have
Laxweir on the Shannon, Leixlip, or salmon-leap, on the LifTey, and
Abbey Leix, in Queen's County.
Zeboim is the ravine of hycenas, and ajalon the valley of stags, berne
takes its name from the bears with which it formerly abounded, arlberg
in the Tyrol is the Adlers berg, or eagle's mountain : and hapsburg, the
stammschloss of the Austrian djmasty, is hawk castle.*
S.WAN River was so called from the number of black swans seen there
by Vlaming, the first discoverer.* The AZORES when discovered were
found to abound in hawks ; the canaries in wild dogs ; the Camaroons ^
in shrimps ; the Galapagos Islands in turtles ; and the Bay of Panama
in mud fish. There are five islands called tortuga, either from the
turtles found on the coast, or possibly from the turtle-like shape.* The
island of Margarita received its name from the pearls which Columbus
obtained from the inhabitants.
The island of barbadoes is said to have derived its name from the long
beard-like streamers of moss hanging from the branches of the trees ; ^
the island of barbuda from the long beards of the natives; and the
ladrones from their thievish propensities. The patagonians were so
called by Magalhaens from their clumsy shoes. The name of Venezuela,
1 See p. 369, supra.
> See p. 368, supra,
s On German names from animals, see Forstemann, Ortsnamen, pp. 143
— 147 ; Buttmann, Ortsnamen^ p. i8. On Sclavonic Names, see Buttmann,
Orisnamen, p. 120. On Norse Names, see Ferguson, Northmen ^ p. 124.
4 Chamock, Local EtymoL p. 261.
• Portuguese, camaroes, shrimps. Burton, Abeokuta, vol. i. p. 18 ; vol.
ii. p. 48.
« Thombury, Monarchs of the Main, vol. i. p. 28.
7 Burton, Abeokuia, vol. ii. p. 78.
H H 2 n \
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468 Ofiomatology.
or little Venice, is due to the Indian Tillages which were found built on
piles in the lake Matacaybo.^
Names derived from those of plants are found in great abundance.* We
have, for example —
The Oak— Acton, Auckland^ Okely, Oakley, Sevenoaks.* From the
Else doirt^ an oak, we deduce the names of Deny and Kildare;
Elm^Nine Elms, ^mdon, Elmstead, Elmswell
Ash — Ashton, Ashley.
Beeeh — Buddand, Buckhuist.
Birch— Berkeley, Birehok, Birbeck.
Lame — Lindfield, Lyndhnrst
Thorn — ^Thomey. Names derived from the thorn are very frequent ta
the Saxon chaiteis.
' Hazel — Hasilmere.
Alder— AUerton, Aldenhot, AUerdale» Okiey, EUettoa.
Api^e — Avallon, or Apple Island,^ Appleby, Appleton.
Cherry — Cherry Hinton.
Broom — Bromley, Bromptoo.
Fem-*-Famham, FamborougK
Rushes — Rusholme.
Sedge — Sedgemoor, Sedgeley.
Reeds— Rodney, Retford.
Shrubs^ Shrewsbttiy and Shawbuiy. The names of Brescia and Bnicsels
have been referred to a root connected with the law Latin ^ittda^ thicket,
or brushwood.'
The chief Sclavonic roots * of this class are : —
dmb, the oak There are '200 places called Dubrau.
bras^^ die binch, occurs in the names of 40 places. E^g. Braslaf.
iipa, the lime, occurs in the names of 600 places. £*g* Leipsig, die
" linden town."
topol, the poplar. E.g, Toplitz.
1 Cooley, Hist of Discovery^ vol. ii. p. 49 ; Thombuiy, MamarcJu^ voL i.
p. 205.
' On German names from plants, see Buttmann, Orttnamen^ p. 9 :
Bender, Ortsnamm^ p. 1 14 ; Forstemann, OrUmim^n, pp. 6g^ 14a For
Norse names, see Ferguson, Northmm^ p. 124.
> Ingram, Sax, Chron. p. 425.
* Moue, GtschkkU Hddmthums^ voL ii. p. 456.
* See Diefenbach, Celtica, i. p. 217. Brussels may, however, be from
the Flemish breecksal, a swamp.
* See Buttmann, Ortsnatmn^ pp. 88 — 94.
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Nantes implying excellence. 469
The Mount of Olives and the Spice Islands are familiar instances of this
mode of nomenclature. Safiron Walden took its name from the sai&on,
the cultivation of which was introduced in the reign of Edward III. and
which still to some extent continues.! gulistan is the place of roses.*
The name of scio comes from scinoy mastic, tadmor, or paucyra, is
the city of palms. ph(enicia is perhaps the land of pahns.' kn ruimon
is the Fountain of the Pomegranate, cana, which stands close to the lake,
is the reedy. ^ beth tapuah is the apple orchard,^ and anab means the
grape. JAVA is the isle of mitmegs < (jayaKi^ and pulopenang means, in
Malay, the island of the areca nuL brazil, as we have seen,' was named
from the red dye-wood» which was the first article of export madeira,
when discovered by the Portuguese in 1418, was found uninhabited and
covered with dense forests. It received its name from the Portuguese word
maderoy timber. The Rio madeira, an affluent of the Amazons, still
flows through the immense forests from which it took its name.
VI. NAMES IMPLYING EXCELLENCE OR THE
REVERSE.
Names implying the excellence of the locality are far more common than
those implying the reverse. Thus Formosa, funen, and joppa, in Portu-
guese, Danish, and Hebrew, mean fine, or beautiAil. Valparaiso is
Paradise Valley, and gennesareth is nearly identical in meaning. ^ The
name of buenos ayres describes the delicious climate of Southern Brazil.
The pacific Ocean seems calm to those who have just weathered the tem-
pests of Cape Hoom. bungay is probably from the French • hon gui^ fair
ford. PALERMO, a corruption of Panormus, is the haven sheltered from
every wind. The Genoese gave balaclava its name of the beautiful quay,
bdla chiava}^ The name of Bombay is from the Portuguese bona bahia,
1 Loudon, Encydopadiaof Plants^ P-S^; Gough's Camden, vol. ii. p. 125.
' Pihan, Glossaire^ p. 146.
8 See page 79, supra,
* Stanley, Sinai and Pal, p. 26a
« Wilton, Negeb, p. 232.
s Talbot, English Etymologies^ P-45'«
7 See p. 408. supra,
8 Stanley, Sinai and Pal, p. 374.
' The Norman castle of Hugh Bigot accounts for the French name. See
Gough's Camden, voL ii. p. 157.
" Chamock, Local Etymology ^ p. 24,
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470 Onomatology.
the good bay, and well describes the harbour, one of the largest, safest, and
most beaatiful m the world. ^
Cairo is the Anglicized form of the Arabic £1 Kahirah, the " victo-
rious,"' ' and the name may be compared with that of vittoriosa, a suburb
of Valetta which was built at the conclusion of the great siege. The
Romans often gave their colonies names of good omen,* as Pax, Liberalius,
Fidentia, Placentia (now piacenza), Valentia (now valance, valentz,
and valentia), PoUentia (now polenza), Potentia (now s. maria po-
tenza), Florentia (now firenze or Florence), Vicentia (now vicenza).
Faventia (now faenza), and the queenly city Basilia (now Basel or Bale.)
Names of bad omen * are rare. From the Anglo-Saxon hean, poor, we
have Henlow, Hendon, and Henley.' perNambuco means the mouth of
hdl, and bab-el-mandeb the gate of the devil.' m alp as is the bad fron-
tier pass.' dungeness and Cape pelorus express the terrors of the
sailor. Caltrop, Colton, Caldecote, and Cold Harbour, are all cold pbices,
and the name of Mount Algidus may be paralleled by that of Coleridge.
A volcano broke out on the ''most beautiful " island of calliste, which
caused the name to be changed to thera, "the beast'' At the time
of a subsequent eniption the island was placed under the protection of the
Empress St Irene, whose name it still bears in the form of santorin.^
Vn. CONFIGURATION.
A few names, chiefly those of islands, bays, and mountains, are derived
from the configuration of the land. Thus anguilla is the eel-shaped
island. Drepanum, now trap an I, is from a Greek word, meaning a sickk.
ZANCLE, the original name of Messina, is said to be derived from a Sicuhan
root of the same significance. SICILV perhaps comes from a root allied tn
sica, a sickle, and the name seems to have been first applied to the curved
shore near Messina, and then extended to the whole ishind. ancona,
' See Buckingham, Autobiography^ voL il p. 33S.
* The real name of Cairo is Misr ; £1 Kahirah or Cairo is only a title of
honour applied to the city, just as Genoa is called " La Supcrba," Verona,
" La Degna," Mantua, " La Gloriosa," Vicenza, " L'antica," and Padua,
• • La Forte. ' ' Fairholt, Up the Nile, p. 42.
B See Niebuhr, Lectures on Ethnology and Googr, vol, ii. p. 291.
* On names of ill omen, see Grimm, Cesch, d. deut. Spr, p. 780.
* Monkhouse, Etymologies, p. 48.
* Pihan, Glossaire, p. 49.
7 See p. 190, supra.
Bremer, Greece, vol. i. p. 329. '
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Names from Configuration — Colour. 471
which preserves its original name unchanged, is built at the place where
Monte Conero juts oui into the sea and then recedes, forming a sort of bent
"elbow" (a7«»fK).i
The name of gomphi, near Pindusj expresses the "wedge-shaped" for-
mation of the rocks,* and may be compared with that of the needles in
the Isle of Wight At meteora the convents are poised " aloft in the air "
on the summits of rocky columns.* The name Trapezus, now trebizond,
on the Black Sea, is identical in meaning with that of table mountain at
the Cape. The organ Mountains in Brazil derive their name from the
£&ntastic forms of the spires of rock, resembling the pipes of an organ. «
PHIALA, in Palestine, is the "bowl."* rhegium is the "rent" between
Sicily and Italy, tempe is the " cut " (r^/iy«) m the rocks through which
the Peneus flows,' and Detroit the "narrows," between Lake Erie and
Lake St Clair.
VIIL COLOUR.
The adjectival element in names is frequently derived from colour.^
Names of this class are often admirably descriptive. How well, for
instance, the Northmen described a conspicuous chalk clilT, past which they
steered to Normandy, by the name of Cape grisnez, or the grey nose.
Cape BLANCNEZ, close by, is the white nose. Cape verde is fringed with
green palms.
The local name for the Indus is the Nilab, the blue river ; and the nam«
of the Blue Nile is, perhaps, an unconscious reduplication.* The xanthus
is the yellow river. The Rio Colorado takes its name from its deep red
colour; ratby, rugby, and Rutland, from their red soil, ratcliffe,
Bristol, is the red cliff. The Red Sea,^ the Black Sea, the Yellow Sea, and
the White Sea, are translated names^
* Trollope, Lenten Journey in Unibriay pp. 281, 290.
* Muller, Dorians^ vol. i. p. 27.
* See Curzon's Monasteries of Levant ; MtQier, Dorians^ voL i. p# 26*
* HinchcUff, South American Sketches^ p. 275.
9 Robinson, iMer Researches^ p. 40a
« Miiller, Dorians^ voL i. p. 21.
7 Buttmann, Deutschen Ortsnamen, pp. 6, 7.
* Pott ( Indo-Gcrm, Spr. p. 29) thinks the name of the Nile is only an
accidental coincidence with the Sanskrit nila, blue, whence, through the
old French neel, we obtain the verb, to anneal. Cf. nedah^ the Indian
name of indigo. See Wilkinson, Ancient Egypt, voL ii. p. 57.
* Probably a translation of Sea of Edom. Renan, Lang, Semit, p. 39 ;
Knobel, Volkerta/ei, p. 135.
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472 Onomatology,
The dty of Hatria or adria, fiom which the Adriatic took its name, is
the black town, so called, perhaps, because built on a deposit of black
mud.^ The kedron is the black valley.* From the Celtic <fi«, black, we
have the names of Dublin, the black pool or linn, and the zx)UGLAs, or
black water, in Lancashire, Scotland, and the Isle of Man.' The Rio
NEGRO and the River mblas are also the black rivers. The River lycus
is, as we have seen, the white river, and not the wolf river. ^ The hvita,
a conunon Norse river-name, is the white water. Names like Blackheath,
Blackmore, Blakeley, or Blackdown, are very ambiguous, as they may be
either from the English black, or from the Norse blakka^ which means
white.' From the Sclavonic bel^ white, we have Belgrade and bolgrad,
the "white castles,"* and scores of names in eastern Germany, sachas
Biela, Bielawa, Bedow, Bilau, and Billow.' From the Wendish tamy,
black, we have Samow, Same, and many other names: from sdaty,
green, come Zielonka, 2^1enetz, &c. ; and so on through the whole range kA
the spectrum.*
The names of mountains are naturally derived in many cases from their
prevailing hue. Thus we have the nilgherries, or the *'blue hills'* of
India, the BLUE ridge of Virginia, and the blue mountains of New
South Wales and Jamaica. From the Gadhelic gorm^ blue, we hare
BENGORM in Mayo, and the cairngorm group in the Highlands.* Roger
Williams tells us that the name Massachusetts is an Indian word, mean-
ing the blue hills. ^^ The hills of Vermont are clothed to the summit*
with green forests, while the sierra morena of Spain is the " sombre
range,** " and the SIERRA vermeja is the *' red range. " « From the Welsh
coch^ red, we have CRIB GOCH, the name of the striking peak which over-
1 Mommsen, Inhabitants of Italy ^ p. 46.
• Stanley, Sinai and Pal, p. 172.
• See Diefenbach, Celtica^ i. p. 139.
• See p. 396, supra,
• Cf. the English verb, to bleach or make white, the German bleick^ pale,
and the French blanc. Some of these names may be from the Celtic
blaighcy a hill. See Hartshome, Salopia Awtiqua^ p. 243.
• Cf. the Turkish Ak-kerman, white castle.
' Buttmann, Deutschen Ortsnamen^ p. 79; 2^euss, Die Deutsckcn^
p. 613.
^ Buttmann, Ortsnamen^ pp. 80, 81.
• Gibson, Etym, Geogr, p. 133.
w Drake, Book of the Indians y book ii. p. 18.
** Root, moms.
" Prescott, Ferdinand and Is. vol. ii. p. 387.
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Names from Colours, 473
hangs the pass of Llanberis,^ while monte rossi, one of the peaks of Etna,
and MONTE ROSSO, an outlier of the Bernina, are so called from their
characteristic nisset or rosy hue.*
A very large number of the loftiest mountains in the world derive their
names from their white ' coverings of snow. From the Sanskrit kitnaj^
snow, and dlajoy^ an abode, we have the name of the majestic himalaja,
the perpetual "abode of snow."' himaprastha is the snowy head,
HIM A WAT is the snow-covered, and the names of the haemus and the
IMAUS are from the same root, dwajalagiri is the "white mountain,"
and cviTAGUARA, the second highest peak of Dwajalagiri, is the white
castle.^ The akhtag in Bokhara are the white mountains, and from the
Hebrew laban^ white, we deduce the name of Lebanon.^ The hoary
head of djebel esh sheikh,^ the chief summit of the Lebanon, is covered
^ Cf. the Latin coccinus. The coek is the "red" bird. Diefenbach,
Ceitua, vol. L p. 61.
' See p. 225, supra.
* Cf. the Latin hums, winter, and the Greek x^^^ snow.
* Cognate Vith the verbs to He, and lay, and the commcxn English suffix,
ley. See p. 360^ supra,
* Lassen, Ind. Altertk. vol. L p. 17; Curtius, Grundziige, vol. i.
p. 169 ; Chamock, Local Etytnol, p. 131 ; Welsford, English Language,
p. 22 ; Cooley, Hist. Discov. voL i. p. 42 ; Pott, Etymohgischen Forsch-
ungeu, p. Ixxiv. ; Pictet, Orig, Indo-Europ. part i. p. 90.
* Lassen, Jnd. Alterth, voL i p. 55.
^ See Robinson, Bibl Researches, vol. iii. p. 439; Stanley, Sinai and
Pal, p. 403 ; Chamock, Local Etym. p. 154.
" This Arabic word seems to have been adopted from the Persian shah,
a king. The name of Xerxes (Khshayoarsha) is the ** venerable king ; "
that of Artaxerxes is the "great venerable king." The English ramifi-
cations of this root are curious to trace. We received the game of chess
from the Persians through the Arabs. The name of the game is a corrup-
tion of shah or sheikh. ' We cry check (king), to give notice that the king
is attacked ; check mate means "the king is dead." The verb ma/Sa=he
is dead, we have in the name of the Spanish matador, who kills the bull.
The word checkered describes the appearance of the board on which the
game is played. In the Court of Exchequer the public accounts were kept
by means of tallies placed on the squares of a chequered cloth. Hence
the phrase to check an account, and the other uses of the verb to check.
See Forbes, History of Chess, pp. 207, 208 ; Schafarik, Slaw. Alterth.
vol. L p. 283; Yonge, Christian Names, yoX. i. p. 133; Manage, Origines,
pp. 279 — 286, 702.
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474 Onomatology.
with snow even during a Syrian summer. Graucasus, * the old Scythian
word from which we derive the name of the Caucasus, means nivf
candidus^ as we are told by Pliny. The Mustagh are the ice mountains.'
The name of the Apennines has been explained by a reference to the
Welsh y-pen-gkwin^ the white head.* The bielouka, the giant of the
Altai, is the white mountain ; and a range in China is called sru^-LiNG, or
the snow mountain. More obvious are the et3rmologies of Mont Blanc,
the Sierra Nevada in Spain, the Ncvado in Mexico, Ben Nevis in Scotland,
Snowdon in Wales, Sneehattan in Norway, and Sneeuwbeigen in the
Cape Colony, two Snafells in Iceland, Sneefell in the Isle of Man ; Schnee-
koppe, the highest peak of the Riesen Gebirge ; Sneeberg, Sneekopf, and
the Eisthaler Spitze, in the Carpathians ; and the Weisshom, Weissmies,
Dent Blanche, and many other peaks in Switzerland.^ The names of the
Swiss mountains are often admirably picturesque and descriptive.* How
well do the words Dent, Horn, and Aiguille describe the rocky teeth,
spires, and pinnacles of rock which shoot up into the clouds. How
appropriate, too, are the names of the schreckhorn, or *'Peak of
Terror;" the wetterhorn, or "Peak of Storms," which gather round
his head and reverberate from his fearful precipices ; the higher, who
uprears his "giant" head; the mOnch, with his smooth -shaven crown;
the JUNGFRAU, or " Maiden," dad in a low descending vesture of spotless
white ; the glittering silberhorn ; the soft disintegrating rock of the ill-
conditioned FAULHORN ; the dent du MIDI, or '* the Peak of Noon,"
over whose riven summits the midday sun streams down the long Rhone
valley to the lake, pilatus, the outlier of the Bernese chain, takes his
name from the " cap ** of cloud which he wears during western winds.
On the other hand, the matterhorn, the most marvellous obelisk of rock
which the world contains, takes its name, not from its doud-pierdng peak,
but from the scanty patches of green n^eadow which hang around its
base; and which also give their name to zermatt — the village "on the
meadow."*
1 Evidently frort the Sanskrit grdva-kasas. The former part of the
name seems to be related to the Greek jrpt^o; , and the latter to the Latin
cashts. See Grimm, Gesch, d, DeuL Spn p. 234 ; Pictet, Orig, Jndo-Ewrop.
part i. p. 73 ; Donaldson, Varrontanus, p. 53.
3 Lassen, Ind, AUertk, vol. i. p. 16.
" Keferstein, KdU AlUrth, vol il p. 186 ; Morris, in GenUemofCs Mag.
for 1789, p. 905. Cf. Church of England Qitarteriy, No. 73, p. 148.
* See p. 5, supra.
* See Stanley, Sinai and Pal. p. 18.
^ CX Andermat
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Names of Mountains, 47 5
The root alp^ or alb^ is widely difTused throughout the Aryan languages.
The Gaelic and Welsh word, alp^ means a height, a hill, or a craggy rock.^
Alp, Owen says, is common in Glamorganshire as a name of hills. It is,
no doubt, connected with the root of albus^'^ though in Switzerland the
ALPS are now the green pasturages between the forests and the snow line.'
ALBANIA, as seen from Corfu, appears as a long snowy range. We may
refer the name albion to the same root ; it may have been bestowed on
the land lying behind the white cliffs visible from the coast of Gaul.
ALBANY (Duke of Albany), the old name of Scotland, means probably the
hilly land.*
The name of the Pyrenees is probably from the Basque word pyrge,
high ; ' that of the itral is from a Tatarian word meaning a belt or
girdle.* The name of the Carpathians comes, we have seen, from the
Sclavonic gora, a mountain, or ckrbat^ a mountain range. ^ HOR means
the mountain ; * pisgah is the height ;' siON is the upraised ; hermon,
the lofty peak ; " gibeah, the hill ; " and samos, the lofty."
^ AU high, is common in Shropshire names, E,g. Ercal, Shiffnal, Peck-
nail, &c. ; Hartshome, Sal, Ant, p. 240.
* On this root in river-names, see p. 225, supra^ The elves are the
white beings.
' The Alps, as well as the Albis in Zurich, seem to have received their
names before the meaning of the root was thus restricted. See Meyer,
* Ortsnameny p. 81.
* On the root alp^ see Pott, Etym, F<frsch» vol. ii. p. 525 ; Latham, Ger-
mania, p. 18 ; Diefenbach, Celtica, I p. 19 ; Orig, Europ, p. 224 ; Owen,
Welsh Dictionary, s. v. alp ; Davies, Celtic Researches, p. 207 ; De Bel-
loguet, Ethnog. voL i. p. 96 ; Duncker, Orig. Germ. p. 44 ; Adelung,
Mithridates, voL ii. p. 43 ; Amdt, Europ. Spr. pp. 241, 242 ; Radlof,
Neue Untersuch, p. 287 ; Sparschuh, Berichtigungen, p. 28.
' Amdt, Europ. Spr. p. 233. Cf. the Zend /i^r, a mountain.
* Miiller, Ugrische Volkstamm, voL i. p. 18.
7 See p. 90, supra ; Knobel, Vdlkertafd, p. 44.
® Compare the Sclavonic ^itt^, and the Greek HfMf. Stanley, Sinai and
Pal, p. 494.
» Ibid. p. 496.
" Ibid. p. 403.
" Ibid. pp. 41, 497.
u Curtius, Die lonier, p. 28 ; and p. 98, supra.
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476
Onomatology.
LIST OF SOME OF THE
CHIEF SUBSTANTIVAL COMPONENTS OF
LOCAL NAMES.
I. NAMES OF MOUNTAINS AND HILLS.
He; [
a bead, hence a mountain. E.g. Pennigant, Ben
Nevis, Kenmore, Kent, Cantal. pp. 219, 22a
PEN; Welsh;
CENN ; Gadhelic
BEN ; Gadhelic
BEYN ; Wdsh ; a brow, hence a ridge. E.g. Brandon. p. 224.
DRUM ; From the Erse druinty a back or ridge. E.g, Dromofe, Dnndmrn.
CEFN ; Cymric ; a back, hence a ridge. E.g. Les Cevennes. p. 219.
ARD ; Celtic ; a height. Eg. Aidrossan. p. 226.
TOE ; Celtic; a tower-like rock. E.g. Mam Tor. pp. 84, 225, 325.
allied to the words beak, spike, spit, &c
Spithead is at the end of a long spit
of sand. E.g^ Peak of Derbyshiie,
Pike o'Stickle, Pic du Midi, Beca di
Nona, Piz Mortiratsch, Oertler Spitx,
Spitzbeigen, Puy de CantaL
peak; England;
pike; England;
pic; Pyrenees;
BEC; Piedmont;
PIZ ; Eastern Switzerland;
SPITZ ; Germany ;
PUY ; Auveme ;
GEBEL ; Arabic ; a mountain. E.g. Gibraltar, Gebel Mousa. p. ico.
Anglo-Saxon beorh^ a hilL Liable to be confused with
names from burh^ an earthwork. Common in Ger^
many, rare in England. E.g. Spitzbeigen, Eidxr^
Ingleborough in Yorkshire, Brownberg Hill in West-
moreland, Queensberry in Dumfriesshire, p. 123. Leo^
Rectiiudinesy p. 65 ; Codex Dipt. vol. iii. p. xviiL
GORA ; Sclavonic ; a mountain. E.g. Gorlitz, Carpathians. p. S4.
BARROW ;
BOROUGH ;
BERG;
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Mountains, 477
CA&UCK; Irelaiid; \
CRAIG ; Wales ; f Gadhelic, carraig; Cymric, craig^^ a rock or crag.
CRICK ; England ; ( E,g. Craigrui^^ Carrickfeigus, Cricklade. p. 225.
CRAU; Savoy; )
CHLUM ; Sclavonic; an isolated hill. There are forty'4even places in
Bohemia alone which go by this name, or by its diminutiTe Chlnmetz.
Buttmann, Ortsnamen, p. 76.
DAGH or TAGH ; Turkish ; a mountain. E^, Altai, Agridagfa, Bdurtagh
(the doud mountains), Mustagh (the ice mountains). Lassen,
Indische Alierth, voL i. p. 1 6.
TSLL; Arabic; a heap, a small hilL Stanley, Sinai and Pal. p. 1x9.
/ Anglo-Saxon hlaw^ a mound, a rising ground.
low; England; ) ^^ Houndslow, Ludlow. Mailow, Broad-
LAW ; Scotch border ; ( ^^ p^^^.
! Norse kaugr, a mound. Old High German
komc, of which the German hiigel is a
diminutive. E^. Fox How, SUver How.
Fexguson, NorOtmm^ pp. 54—56 ; Forste-
mann, Ortsnavun, p. 42. p. 174.
HILL ; Anglo-Sax. hyl, Norse hoa. Leo, Aftgio-Saxm Names, p. 73-
KNOTT ; a small round hilL E,g. Ling Knott, Amside Knott
SLIABH or gUKTO ; Erte ; J ^ mountain. E,g, Slievh Beg. p. 248.
SLISU ; Manx ; '
KOM ; Arabic ; a high mound.
I FELL ; l^orse/jeld; a hill-side. E.g, Goatfell in Airan. p. i6a
I FELS; German; a rock. £.sr. Drachenfels.
HAGA&; Arabic ; a stone. P- 94-
KAMEN ; Sclavonic ; a stone.
BTEnT-' GCTm^y • l Anglo-Saxon stan, a stone. Old German sfain,
stken'; Netherlands; ( ^'^' ^odstone, Ehrenbreitstein, Brunsteen.
BUN ; Celto-Saxon ; a hill fort E.g. London, Dunstable, pp. 221—235.
KBflUif ON ; Hebrew ; lofty.
sioN ; Hebrew ; upraised.
RUDGE J ^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ Anglo-Saxon hrycg; German rUckm, a back ;
^^°^ { and English rick-ysid. E.g. Reigate, Rugdey, Rudge.
rigge; J
SIERRA ; Arabic. Not, as is usually supposed, from the Latin serra, a saw,
but from the Arabic sehrak^ an uncultivated tniot. E.g. Sierra
Nevada, Gayangos, Dynasties, voL i. p. 546.
CORDILLERA ; Spanish ; a chain.
Digitized
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478 Onomatology.
HORN ; German ; a peak. E,g, Matterhom, Schreckhorn, Finsteiaariioni,
Wctterhom.
DODD ; Lake district ; a mountain with a round summit E.g. Dodd FeQ,
Great Dodd.
MONADH ; Gaelic ; 7 a bald head. E^, Monadh liadh, Inverness.
MYNYDD ; Welsh ; ^ Mynydd-Mawr, Carnarvonshire.
e MULL ; Scotland ; Gaelic maol ; a headland. E.g. Mull of Cantyre.
C MOEL ; Wales ; a round hilL E.g. Mod Siabod.
ROG ; Sclavonic ; a horn. Buttmann, OrifMomett, p. 6i.
DENT ; French, a tooth. E.g. Dent du Midi
BLUFF ; American. A bluff, as distinguished from a hill, is the escarpment
formed by a river running through a table-land.
MONT ; France ; ^ a mountain. Latin moHs. E.g. Mont Blanc, Moot-
MONTE ; Italy ; ) martre, Monte Rosa.
KNOCK ; Gadhelic ; a hill. E.g. Knocknows, Knockduff.
BALM ; Celtic ; an overhanging wall of rock ; a cave : not uncommon in
Switzerland and France. E.g. Col de Balm. Meyer, Ortsnamm,
p. 8i ; Adelung, Miihridates, vol. ii. p. 45 ; Diefenbach, CeUica^ I
p. 192.
SCAR ; Norse ; a cliff E.g. Scarborough. p. 163.
GOURNA ; Arabic ; a mountain promontory.
NESS ; Norse ; a nose or headland. E.g. Wrabness, Sheemess. p. 163.
HOO ; England ; Anglo-Saxon ho. A hoo or heal is a spit of land nmniog
into the sea. Codex Diphnu voL iii. p. xxxL
RAS; Arabic; a. cape. p. lOl.
ROSS ; Celtic ; a promontory. E.g. Rossbetg; Kinross, Roseneath, Md-
rose, Ross. p. 224.
n. PLAINS.
GWENT ; Celtic; a plain. E.g. Winchester. pu 231.
CLON ; Ireland ; from the Erae eluain^ a plain surrounded by bog or water.
E.g. Clonmd, Cloyne. It occurs four times in Shropshire. £^^
Clunn, Clunbury.
PLUN ; Sclavonic ; *> a plain. E.g. Ploner See, in Holstdn.
PLON ; Sclavonic ; 5 Buttmann, OrtsHomen, p. 79^
LAN; Cdtic; •> , .
i^NDjEngUsh; i-'P*'^ ^ «»
DOL ; Cdtic ; a plain. E.g. Toulouse, Dolberry. p. 223.
BLAIR ; Gadhelic ; a plain clear of wood. E.g. Blair AthoU.
SHARON ; Hebrew ; a plain.
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Plains— Forests, 479
TiR ; Welsh ; land. E.g» Cantire. p. 205,
BELED ; Arabic ; a district
GAU ; Teutonic ; a district. Cf. the Greek y%»iou E,g. Spengay in Cam-
bridgeshire, Wormegay in Norfolk. Pictet, Orig, Indo-Europ,
part ii. pp. 15, 505. pp. 119 — 264.
MAN ; Celtic ; a district E.g. Maine, Manchester. p. 230.
MAT; Swiss; \
MAES ; Welsh ; I a field. E.g. Andermat, Masham, Armagh, Maynooth,
MAGH ; Erse ; j Marmagen. pp. 232 — 234.
MAG; Gaulish; J
ING ; Anglo-Saxon; a meadow, -ff.^. Deeping. p. 134.
SAVANNAH ; Spanish ; a meadow.
AGH ; Ireland ; 7 From Erse achadh^ a field. E.g. Ardagh, Auchin-
AUCH ; Scotland ; 5 leek. See Sullivan, Diet, of Derivations^ p. 282.
AC ; sometimes a corruption of agh ; sometimes of the Celtic ach or axe,
water; sometimes of the Teutonic aha or ahi\ more often the Celtic
derivative particle. Nine out of ten of the village-names of Western
and Central France exhibit this derivative suffix. See Zeuss, Gramm,
Celt. vol. ii. p. 771 ; Forstemann, Ortsnamen^ p. 29.
III. FORESTS.
HOLZ ; German ; \ a copse. E.g. Bagshot, Sparsholt, pp. 359, 360.
HOLT ; Anglo-Saxon ; \ Codex. Dipt. vol. iii. p. xxxii.
HURST ; England ; ) thick wood. Anglo-Saxon hyrst. E.g. Lyndhurst,
HORST ; Gennany ; i Penshurst Ingram, 6Viji:. Cir^ p. 427. p. 360.
hart; Germany; ^^ ^^ Hunhart, Seal Chart. p. 360.
CHART ; England ; J * ' ^ ^
BOR ; Sclavonic ; a forest E.g. Bohrau. Buttmann, Ortsnanietiy p. 83.
DROWO ; Sclavonic ; a wood E.g. Drewitz.
GOLA ; Sclavonic ; a wood. E.g. Gollwitz.
weald; England; \ ^o^jj^j; related to >5£^//. Anglo-Saxon owdTw,
wold; England; I ^^^ ^^^^ ^ qj^ ^^^ German, wUu. E.g
WALD ; Germany; \ ^^^^4^^ Walden, The Cotswolds, Wootton,
WOOD ; England ; I s^.h^^ald, Emswoude. pp. 138, 360.
WOUDE; Netherlands; ;
COED ; Welsh ; a wood. -ff.^.Bettwsy Coed, Cotswold Hills, Catlow. p. 362.
!an open place in a wood. Anglo-Saxon leak. E.g.
Leighton, Hadleigh ; Waterioo, Venloo. pp. 310.
360; Leo, Rectitttdinesy p. 86; Morris, Local Names,
p. 46.
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480 Onomatology.
DKN ; Celto-Saxon ; a deep wooded valley. Dm and dun are from the
safne root, but the meanings are converse, like those of dikeznA diitk.
MONEY; Ireland; from Erse muine^ a brake or shaw. E^, Moneyrea,
Moneymore.
ACRE ; a field. Latin ager. Low Latin cui^a. E.g. Longacre.
SHAW; England; a shady place, a wood Anglo-Saxon sceaga; None
skogr. E.g, Bagshaw. Liable to be confused with haw.
pp. 188. 359.
IIAW ; German gehaw^ a place where the trees have been katm. Neariy
the same aa field. See Vilmar, Orisnamen^ p. 265 ; Forstemann,
Ortsnamen^ p. 79. Cf. Leo, Anglo-Saxon Names^ p. 115.
FIELD ; Anglo-Saxon /•/</, a forest clearing, where the trees have been
felled. E.g. Sheffield, Enfield. pp. i6o, 361.
ROYD ; Teutonic Probably land that has been ridded of trees. Low
Latin terra rodata. E.g. Huntroyd, Holroyd, Ormeroyd. Names
in rod^ rode^ or roth are very common in Hesse ; liable to be con-
fused with rithe^ running water, and rhyd^ a ford, q. v. See Forste^
mann, Ortstia$nen^ p. 79 ; Vilmar, Ortsnanun^ pp. 278, 279 ;
Chamock, Local Eiymol. p. 229.
LUND ; Norse ; a sacred grove. E.g. Lundgarth. p. 331.
NEMET ; Celtic ; a sacred grove. E.g. Nbmes, Nymet Rowland, p. 331.
IV. VALLEYS.
NANT ; Cymric ; a valley. E.g. Nant-frangon. p. 23a
' ^ V f *i narrow valley. E.g. Glynneath, Gleficoe.
GLEN; Gaelic; > j ^ j *
STILATH ; Gaelic ; a btxMid valley. E.g. Stratliclyde, Stratheme.
THAL ; German ; ^ a valley. E.g. Lonsdale, Arundel, Frankenthal
DALE ; Northumbrian ; f Names in tlol are very common in Bohemia and
DELL ; Southumbrian ; i Moravia, p. l6a Buttmann, Ortsnamun^
DDL ; Sclavonic ; ) p. 79.
VYED ; Malta ; *) Arabic wadi^ a tavine, valley, or river. Eg. Gttadal-
GUAD ; Spain ; > quiver. pp. 102, 106.
COMBE ; Cclto-Saxon ; ") a bowl-shaped valley. E.g. Wycombe, Cwm
CWM ; Welsh ; ^ Bechan. p. 226.
KOTL ; Sclavonic ; a kettle or combe. Buttmann, Ortsnamen^ p. 79.
COP ; Celtic ; a hollow or cup. E.g. Warcop.
DEN ; from Celto-Saxon denu^ a deep-wooded valley. Ei.g. Tenterdcn.
pp. 361, 226.
GILL ; Lake District ; a ravine. E.g. AygilL
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Valleys — Rivers, 481
V. RIVERS AND WATERS.
A; Anglo-Saxon ea; None a ; Old High German aha; Gothic ahva\
water. Cognate with Latin <ifwa. i?.^. Greta, Werra. p. 174.
AVON; Celtic; a river. p. 196,
dwr; Cymric; water. p. 199.
ESK ; Celtic; water. p. 202.
burn; Anglo-Saxon; \ ^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^ Blackburn, Tyburn, Hach-
BRUNNEN; German; > \^xti,
BORN ; m Hesse ; )
BROOK ; from Anglo-Saxon hrdcy a rushing stream.
/ a small stream. E»g, Welbeck, Holbeck,
BECK ; Northumbria ; 1 Caudebec. There are fifty names in batch
BACH; Germany; j in Shropshire, as Comberbatch, Coldbatch,
BATCH ; Mercia ; \ and Snailbatch (/.<. Schnell-bach).
BEC; Normandy; I pp. 159, 187; '^zs\:itiorti'^ Salopia Antiqua^
\ p. 240 ; Notes and Queries^ vol. i p. 367.
reka; Sclavonic; river. E^, River R^en.
WODA; Sclavonic; water. E,g, River Odes. Buttmann, Ortsnamm^
p. 114.
RUN ; Anglo-American ; a brook. E,g, Bull's Run.
creek ; Anglo-American ; a small river. E.g. Salt Creek, p. 30, supra,
fork ; Anglo-American ; a large affluent E,g, North Fork.
para; Brazilian; a river. E,g. Parahiba, Paraguay, Parana, Parany-
buna.
RITHE ; Anglo-Saxon ; running water. E,g, Meldrith, Shepreth, &c. in
Cambridgeshire. See royd, p. 480, supra,
roi^CB ; Northumbria ; | ^^^^^^ ^ Airy Force, Skogar Foss. p. i6a
Foss ; Iceland ; \
!Anglo-Saxony2f(f/, a fk>wing stream. E.g, North-
fleet, Byfleet, Harfleur. See pp. 187, 274.
Leo, RectUudines, p. 8i ; Ingram, Sax, Chron,
p. 426 ; Forstemann, Ortsnamm, p. 36.
GANGA ; India ; a river. In Ceylon most of the river-names terminate in
ganga. The Ganges is the river.
BIRKET; Arabic; a lake.
UNN ; Celtic ; a deep pool. E.g. Lincoln, Linlithgow, Dublin,
Lynn, p. 215.
vat; Hebrides; a small lake. Norse vrt//*, water. E.g. OUevat. p. 172.
II
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BEER • Hebrew • ( * "^^^^ ^^' ^^'s^®'^ Beyrout. Dr. Stanley says
482 Onomatology.
Tarn ; Lake District ; a small mountain lake, lying like a tear on the face
of the hilL Norse tiom^ a tear. E,g, Blentam.
KELL; England; \ j^^ ^j^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^j^ ^^ ^^ ^^j_
well; England; \ ia„d, which is a tidal stream.
QUELLE ; Germany ; /
AIN ; Arabic ; a fomitain. E.g, Engedi, the fomitain of the kid ; Enrogel,
the fountain of the foot. pp. 102, 113.
HAMMAN ; Turkish ; hot springs.
, .-w»brew; i' .^. ,. , , „. ,
BiR • A abic • < It IS somethmg bored, Stnai and Pal. pp. 147, 512.
' ' ' ( p. 103.
BAHR ; Arabic ; a canaL
BALA ; Welsh ; effluence of a river from a lake.
aber; Welsh ; ) a confluence of two rivere, or of a river and the
INVER ; Gadhelic ; ) sea. E.g, Abergavenny, Inverness. p. 2461
CONDATE ; Old Celtic ; confluence of two rivers. E.g. Conde, GhenL
Zeiiss, Gram, Celt p. 994 ; Adelung, MithridaUs^ vol ii. p. 54.
WICK ; Norse ; a bay. E.g. Sandwich. p, 161.
FORD ; England ; ) "^on^ fiord, an arm of the sea. E.g. Orford, Haver-
FJORD ; Iceland ; ) ford, Faxa Fjord. p. i6a
over; Anglo-Saxon, ofer; German, ufn' ; a shore. E.g. Hanover,
Oveiyssel, Over near Cionbridge, Wendover. Andover is not from
the root ofer, but wture. See Sax. Chron. ; Cod. Dipl. voL iiL
p. xxxiv. ; Morris, Local Names, p. 38, Forstemann, Orttnamen,
p. 39. p. 138, iir/ni.
POOL ; ) Welsh pwl, an inlet, or pool. E.g. Pill in Somerset, Poole in
PILL; J Dorset, Bradpole, Pwlhelli, Liverpool
SHORE; e.g. Shoreham.
OR; Anglo-Saxon ora, the shore of a river or sea. E.g. Bognor, Cumnor,
Oare near Hastings, Elsinore. Windsor was anciently Windlesora,
the winding shore. Ore in Iceland denotes a narrow strip of land
between two waters. Leo, Rectitudines, p. 79 ; Laing, Ham-
skringla, vol. i. p. 119; Ingram. Sax. Chron. p. 428; Chamock,
Local Efymol. p. 298L
TRA; Erse; a strand. ^.^. Tralee, ^Ballintra.
MERE; Anglo-Saxon, j a lake, a marsh. E.g. Foulmire, Mersey, Morton,
MOOR ; Anglo-Saxon ; ( Blackmore.
JASOR ; Sclavonic ; a marsh. Buttmann, Ortsnamen, p. 107.
RUIMNE; Celtic; a marsh. E.g. Romney. pp. 213, 349.
RHOS ; Celtic ; a moor. E^. Rossall, Rusholme. pt 224.
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Waters — Islands — Roads. 483
VI. ISLANDS.
YNYS; Welsh; -\ an island. E.g, Inchiquin and Inchkeith in Scot-
INNIS; Gadhelic; / land; Enniskillen, Ennismore, Ennis, and at least
ENNis ; Irish ; ^ 100 names in Ireland, as well, perhaps, as Erin
INCH ; Scotch ; ) and Albion.
EY '
' \ an island. From the Anglo-Saxon ea, Norse oe. Eyot is the
' \ ' diminutive of ey, and ait the contraction of tyof, £.g, Ey in
^^' \ Suffolk, Sheppcy, Rona, Faroe, Colonsay. pp. 163, 171, 348.
AY ; /
AIRE; "^
AYRE; fa small river-island of shingle or sand. £,g, Saltaire, Stonaire.
EYRE; J
HOLM; Norse; an island in a river. £^. Flatholm in the Severn, p. 163.
JEZIRAH; Arabic; an island. E.g Algiers, Algeziras. p. 104.
VII. ROADS, BRIDGES, FORDS.
GATE; England; '\
GUT ■ Kent * f ^ passage, a road or street E.g, Reigate, Gatton,
GHAT ; Indk ; T Ramsgate, Calcutta. pp. 252, 334.
GHAUT; India )
ATH ; Erse ; a ford. E.g, Athlone.
RHYD ; Welsh ; a ford. p. 254.
WATH ; Northumbria ; a ford. Related to the verb to zaadf,
ford; England; C ^•^- ^^^^"^ Frankfurt, Lemfdrde. p. 254.
^,T«»^. /-™-««. J Buttmann, Ortsnamen, p. 17 ; Bender, Ortsna-
fuhrt; Germany; < „ ^ r, ^, ^
.. TT i nun. p. 1 18; Ingram, Saxon Chron, p. 426;
FORDE ; Hanover \ I ^ * ^ ^ « r t 9
\ Forstemann, Ortsnamen^ p. 38.
PONT ; Welsh and French; a bridge. E.g. Pontaberglaslyn. p. 253, 354.
MOST ; Sclavonic ; a bridge. E.g. Babimost, Motzen, Maust Buttmann,
Ortsnamen^ p. 135.
BRIDGE; England; ( ^'^' ^"^^^^^ ^™«^' Innspriick, Weybridge,-
BRUCKE ; Germany A ^ee p. 154 ; Bender, Ortsnamm, p. 1 19 ; Ingram,
( Sax. Chron. p. 425.
BRIVA ; Old Celtic ; a bridge. p. 255.
BAB ; Arabic ; a gate ; E.g. Babelmandeb.
STREET ; Latin and Saxon ; a road. E.g. Stretton, Stratford. p. 250.
SARN ; Welsh ; a road. E.g. Sam Helen.
112
Digitized by VjOOQIC
484 Onomatology.
VIII. BOUNDARIES.
TWISTLB ; Northmnbria ; a boundary. E.g. Entwude, Btrchtwistle,
Extwistle. Whitakcr, History of WhalUy, p. 377.
GILL ; Northumbria ; None, gil, a ravine. E.g. Dungeon GOL
STONE ; Anglo-Saxon and Norse, stan. E.g. Stanton, Godstone. Staines
is so called from the Stones bounding the river jurisdiction of the
Lord Mayor.
KAMEN ; Sclavonic ; a stone. E.g. Chemnitz. Buttmann, Ortsnamm^
pp. 61, 103.
HAGAR ; Arabic ; a stone.
GISR ; Arabic ; a dyke.
DYKE ; Anglo-Saxon ; a ditch. E.g. Wansdyke. p. 2$6.
HATCH ; England ; a kUck-^Xit. Cf. the French, kiche. This is a com-
mon suffix in the neighbourhood of ancient forests. E.g^ Westhatch
in Somerset, Pilgrims' Hatch in Essex ; Colney Hatch in Middlesex
was the gate at the southern extremity of Enfield Chase. See Nota
and Queries^ vol x. pp. 107, 197, 238, 316.
CLOUGH ; Erse cloch^ a stone. E.g. Cloghan, Claughton in Yorkshire.
MARK ; Indo-European ; a boundary. E.g. Denmark, Altmark. pi. 264.
IX. HABITATIONS AND INCLOSURES.
HEIM ; Germany ; \
HAM ; England ; f a home. E.g. Hocheim, Buckingham, Rysnm,
HEN ; Picardy ; i Hamburg. pp. 125, 124, 152.
UM; Friesland; '
TON; Anglo-Saxon /((fff, an indosure. Hence a village. pp. 119,12a
iwiCK ; Anglo-Saxon 't/tc an abode. Related to the Latin vicus. p. 161.
WAS; Sclavonic; a village. E.g, Weska, Wasowetz. Buttmann,
Ortstutnun^ p. 145.
WIKI ; Sclavonic ; a market E.g. Fourteen places called Wieck. Bntt-
mann, Ortsnamm^ p. 139.
WEILER; Germany; \
VILLIERS ; France ; / an abode, a house. E.g. Berveiler, Hardivfl-
viLLE ; Normandy ; \ liers, HaconviUe, Chiswill, KettlewelL
^^'^^J (England; \ PP. 159. i8>
WELL ; ) /
ballV ; \ Gadhelic haile^ an abode. Equivalent to the Cymric tre and
BAL ; \ the Norse by. E.g. Ballymena, Balbriggan. pp. 247, 24S.
balla; ) Sullivan, Dkt. of Der. p. 283.
Digitized
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BoundariesT-Dwellings. 485
fKBKD ; India ; an abode. E^. Allaliabad.
BY ; England ; \
MUF; Normandy; ( ^orse, iyr, m abode. £.jr. Deiby, Elbooi;
burun; Germany; J Amekburen. pp. IS7. i86.
«y>..»^T » . 1 f Anglo-Saxon and Norse, dot/, a house, from
BOLD • ^ ^^^**°^ '* 1 bytliany to build. Rare in Anglo-Saxon names.
buttel; Germany; { ^■^- NewbotUe. Wolfenbiittel, BothweU.
blod; Friesland: / ^^- ^'>^- ^°^- iii- P- ^^J Bender, Orts^
\ nanun, p. 132.
BUS ; Sclavonic ; a dwelling. Bus is very common in Sclavonic districts.
E,g. Trebus, Lebbus, Putbus. Buttmann, Ortsnamen, p. 130.
BUDA; Sclavonic; a hut E,g, Buda, Budin, Budan, Budkowitz.
Buttmann, Ortsnamen, p. 129.
BOD * ^
' j Cymric; a house. E.g. Bodmin, Bodwrog, Boscawen, p. 229.
STAN; Persian; a place. E.g. Kurdistan, Hindostan, Beloochistan,
Afghanistan.
STEAD ; England ; > Anglo-Saxon stede^ a place. E.g. Hampetead, Darm-
STADt; Germany; i stadt
STOKE • ( Anglo-Saxon stoc, a stockaded place. E.g. Bristow or Bristol,
STOW •' i Chepstow, Tavistock, Stockholm, p. 121 ; Ingram, Sax.
' ( Chron. p. 438.
iSET ; from Anglo-Saxon seta, a settlement E.g. Dorset p. 69.
SETER ; Norse ; % a seat or dwelling. E.g. Ellanseter, SeatoUar,
STER; Norse; ) Ulster. pp. 170, 183.
SSEDLO ; Sclavonic ; a possession. E.g. Sedlitz. Buttmann, Ortsnametiy
p. 144.
PATAM ; India ; a dty. E.g. Patra, Seringapatam.
HAGEN ; Germany ; \ a place surrounded by a hedge ; a park. E.g.
**^^' ^Enirland- \ ^^^^^^"^ 1-a Haye Sainte. p. 122. Bender,
HAIGH ; J ' ) Ortsnamm, p. 128.
PARK; Celto-Saxon. p. 122. Diefenbach, Celtica, L p. 146.
TRE ; Cymric ; a village. E.g. Tredegar, Treves. p. 228.
/ A house. E.g. the portage at the falls of the
house; England; V Rhine is Schaffhausen, "at the ship-houses."
HAUS ; 7 Qenn«nv . y The dative plural hausen is the commonest
HAUSEN ; •) ' \ suffix in German names. Forstemann, Orts-
HUUS ; Norway ; I namen, p. 84 ; Vilmar, Ortsnamm, pp. 264,
\ 273.
TY J Welsh ; a house. p. 229.
jaza; Sclavonic; a house. E.g. Jaschen, Jaschwitz. Buttmann, Orts-
namm, p. 131.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
486 Onoinatohgy.
DOM ; Sclavonic ; a house.
BETH ; Hebrew ; a house. E.g. Bethany (house of dates), Bethlehem
(house of bread), Bethsaida (house of fish), Bethel (house of GodX
Bethharon (house of caves), Bethphage (house of figs).
cote; Anglo-Saxon ; a mud cottage. Coton is the plural of cote. E.g.
Fosscot, Coton Hill in Shropshire. p. 363.
SELL; Anglo-Saxon; a cottage, a little superior to coU, Leo, Angh-
Sax, Namesy p. 54.
hall; Anglo-Saxon; (* ^^^"^^ ^°^- ^'^' Coggeshall, MUdcnhall,
sall; Anglo-Saxon; ) Kensal, Walsall. \^ Anglo-Sax<m Noma,
^ PP- 52, 54-
CLERE; Anglo-Norman ; a royal or episcopal residence on a lofty hiD.
Almost the only Anglo-Norman suffix. E» g. Highclere, Buighdere,
Kingsclere. See Notes and Qua^ies^ voL i. p. 400.
SCALE ; Norse ; a shepherd's hut Cf. the Scotch, a shecUing, E.g.
Portinscale, Scalloway. p. 2961
FOLD ; Anglo-Saxon ; an inclosure made oi felled tiecu, p. 121.
worth; Anglo-Saxon and German; an inclosure. E.g. Tamworth,
Konigsworth. p. 121. Leo, Rectitudines, p. 52.
GADIR ; Phoenician ; an inclosure. E.g, Cadiz. p. 95.
CARTHA ; Phoenician ; an inclosed place, a city. E.g. Carthage, p. 94.
GARTH • Norse • I ^ inclosed place. E.g. Fishguard, AppJe-
YARD; Anglo-Saxon; J S^' PP- "'• '59, 185. Bender, Orts^
V namen^ p. 134.
GOROD ; Russian n ^. x. i ^^^**^ ^ ^"^^ * mountoin, just as hirg
GROD ; Polish ; 1 "" ^"""^^ ' J is ^^^^ ^° ^' ^'^' ^^^ ^ Styria,
GRATZ ; Sclavonic ; a town ; \ ^onigsgratz in Bohemia, Novgorod (new
HRAD ; Bohemian ; a casUe ; / ^^^'^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^'^ «^^>' ^^^'K^d
\ (Aldborough). p. 1 2 1.
' J From the Anglo-Saxon burh, burtthf and byrig, an earth-
burg; / ^^^^ Ytenct a fortified town. Related to the Celtic
' > briga and the Sclavonic gorod. See pp. 123, 258, supra.
' I Bender, Orisnamen^ p. 135 ; Leo, RecHiudina^ p. 34 ;
burgh ; \ I ^^ Qf^^^ ^^^
brough; J
CHESTER ; Saxon ; \ ^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^ Winchester, Leicester.
CESTER; Mercian; 7 ^ ^ ^.^ ^^^^
' ,. ' ( Doncaster. pp. 259, 260.
CASTER; Anghan; ;
CAER ; Welsh ; ) Either related to the preceding, or to the Eise
CAR ; Welsh ; > cathair^ a fortress. E.g. Caermarthen, Cariisle.
KER; Brezonec; ) p. z6i.
Digitized
by Google
Dwellings, 487
DON ; Celto-Saxon ; a hill fort E,g, London, Dunmow. p. 221.
LIS ; Gadhelic ; an earthen fort ; equivalent to bury, E.g, Lismore,
Listowel, and 300 names in Ireland.
RATH; Erse; an earthen fort, or mound. E.g, Rathboyne, Rathlin.
See Sullivan, Diet, of Deriv. p. 293.
KASR ; Arabic ; a fort
KALAT; Arabic; a castle. E,g, Calatagirone, Alcala. See pp. 100,
107.
PEEL ; Celtic ; a stronghold.
CI vita; Italy; ) Lajj^^ civitas. E,g, Civita Vecchia, Ciudad Rodrigo.
CIUDAD; Spam; (
MEDINA ; Arabic ; a chief city. E,g. Medina Sidonia. p. 107.
POOR ; India ; a city ; Sanskrit; pura, related to w6Xis. E.g. Singapoor.
POLis ; Greek ; a city. E.g, Constantinople, Grenoble, Naples, p. 405.
BENI ; Arabic ; sons of. Common prefix to the names of Arab villages.
E.g. Benihassan. p. 107, supra; Wilton, Negeby p. 140.
ing; England; -^^^^^^ ^^^^ Reading, Tubingen, pp. 125—152.
ingen; Germany;) * * ^ vv o :y
MENZIL; Arabic; a station. p. loi.
RAHL ; Arabic ; a village, or house. pp. loi, 103.
KAFR : Arabic ; a village.
bender; Arabic; a market-town.
COLN ; Latin, colonia. E.g. Lincoln, Cologne. p. 262.
HIPPO ; Phoenician ; a walled town. p. 96.
HAZOR ; Arabic and Hebrew ; an inclosure for cattle in the desert A
common prefix in the names of the settlements of the fixed Arabs.
E.g. Hazar-Ithman, Hazar-Aman. Wilton, Negeb^ pp. 75, 99.
RUP; Holstein; \
THORPE ; \ I Norse ; a village. E.g, Althorp, Ibthrop,
THROP ; > England ; > Rorup, Wanderup, Dusseldort Buttmann,
TROP ; ' I OrtsnameHy p. 21. pp. 158^ 186 supra,
DORF ; Germany ; /
TOFT ; Danelagh ; -k Norse; an inclosure ; related to turf. E,g. Lowestoft,
TOT; Normandy;/ Plumetot pp. 158, 185.
THWAiTE ; Norse; a forest clearing. E.g. Finsthwaite. p. 159.
LEBEN ; Germany; a place to" live in. This suffix is very prevalent north
of the Hartz. See Gerland, in Kiihn*8 Zeitschrifl, vol. x ; Forstemann,
Ortsnameny p. 107 ; Latham, English Language, vol. i. p. 125.
STAPLE ; England ; a market E.g. Dunstable, Etaples. p. 374.
KAHN ; Arabic ; a market
MULLEN ; Gadhelic ; a milL E.g, Mollingar, Mulintra.
Digitized
by Google
488 Onomatology,
MLYN ; Sclavonic \ a mill. E, g, Mlinek. Buttmann, Orisnamen^
p. 133.
MASARA ; Arabic ; a mill.
church; Southumbria.
KIRK ; Northumbria.
KIL ; Gadhelic ; a cell ; a church. E.g, Killin. p^ 336.
LLAN ; Cymric ; an indosure ; a church. E,g, Llanberis. pp. 229^ 33IS.
\ E.g. Church Stretton, Kircudbright, p. 337.
a church. E.g, Killin. p^ 336
osure ; a church. E.g, Llanberis. pp. 229^ 33|5
MOUTIERS; France; \ monast«y. E.?. Wertminster, Mo-
MINSTER; England; [ nasterevin h. Ireland. p. 345-
MONASTER ; Ireland, Greece ; ;
DEIR ; Arabic ; a house ; a monastery. p. 103.
GHAR ; Arabic ; a grotto. E.g. Trafalgar. pp. 103, 109.
hithe; Anglo-Saxon ;> a wharf. E.g. Greenhithe, Erith, Lambeth,
HAFEN; Norse; J Copenhagen, Kurische Haf. PP- 279, 351.
werp ; from the Danish kverve^ to turn, a word which appears in the
name of Cape Wrath. E.g. Antwerp. See pp. 390, 393, supra;
Wedgwood, in PhUolog. Proc. voL vi. p. 89.
MARSA ; Arabic ; a port. E.g. Marsala. pp. 100^ vxl.
DAM ; an embankment. E.g. Rotterdam, Amsterdam.
Digitized
by Google
Ethnic Names of Cities.
489
APPENDIX A.
List 0/ Kamss 0/ Ancient Tribes preserved in the Names 0/ Modern
Cities and Provinces.
(See p. 73.)
Ancient Names.
Modern Cities and Provinces.
Abrincatui,
Avranches.
Ambiani,
Amiens.
Andecavi,
Angers in Anjou.
Arvemi,
Auverne.
Atrebates,
Anas in Artois.
Ausci,
Auch.
Bajucasses,
Bayeux?
Bellovad,
Beauvais.
Bigerrones,
Bagnires de Bigorre.
Bituriges- Vivisci, ^
Bordeaux ?
Bituriges-Cubi,
Bourges ? Berru
Boii,
Buch.
Brannovioes,
Briennois.
Brixantes,
Bregentz,
Cadurd,
CahoTs in Quercy.
Caletes,
Caux.
Carautes,
Chartres.
Cassii,
Cashiobury.
Catalanni,
Chalons.
Caturiges,^
Cenomani,
Cnoigres.
Le Mans.
Centrones,
Centron.
Cimbri,
Canibrilla, Quimper.
Conembricse,
Coimbra.
Consonanni,
Conseians.
Convense,
Commingc.
Cnrosolites,
Cotseult.
Damnonii,
Devon.
Diablintes,
Dmocasses,
Tubleins.
i)reux.
Dorchester in Dorset
Eburovices,
Evreux.
Klusates,
Eause.
Gabali,
Javaux in G^vaudan.
* The second portion of this name is the Celtic rixy a king, which is
Cound in the names of Ambiorix, Dumnorix, Orgetorix, Rigomagus, &c.
See Zeqss, Gram. Celt. vol. i p. 25. Rajah, rex, reich, and rich, and the
names Austria^ Richard, are cognate words.
Digitized
by Google
490
Appendix.
Ancient Names,
Modem Cities and Provimes.
Huicii,
Worcester.
Iberi,
Ebro.
Iceni,
Iken, IckboroDgh, Ickworth.
Lexovii,
Lisieux.
Lemovices,
Limoges in Limoosin.
Lingones^
Langres.
Mediomatrici,
Metz.
Meldi,
Meaux.
Namnetes,
Nantes.
Nantuates.
Nantueil,
Parisiiy'
Paris.
Petrocorii,
Perigueux in Perigord.
Pictones,
. Poictiers in Poitou.
Remi,
Rheims.i
Rhedones,
Rennes.
Rothomagi,
Rouen.
Ruteni,
Rhodez in Rovergne.
Santones,
Saintes in Saiatonge.
f^}'^.
Scotland.
Seduni,
Sion or Sitten.
Selgovae,
Solway.
Senones,
Sens.
Sesavii, or Saji,
Ste.
SUvanectes,
Senlis.
Suessiones,
Soissons.
Taurini,
Turin, or Torino.
Tolosates,
Toulouse.
Treviri,
Treves, or Trier.
Tricasses,
Troyes.
Tungri,
Tongres.
Turones,
Tours in Touraine.
Vassates, or Vasarii,
Bazas.
Velavii,
Velay.
Veliocasses,
Vexin.
Veneti,
Vannes in La Vendee.
Veneti,
Venice.
Veromandui,
Viducasses,
Vieux, near Caen.
On these and other more doubtful names of the same class, see Conticn,
Die Wanderungm der Kelten^ pp. 9 — 18 ; Zeuss, Die Deutschen^ pp. 204—
206 ; Gliick, Die bei Catus Julius Casar vorkommende kdtischen Nawien.
1 Dean Milman states that Rheims took its name from St Remigias.
A strange t<rr§pop irp^rcpor. See History of Latin Christianity, vol L
p. 257.
Digitized
by Google
Patroftymics.
491
APPENDIX R
SAXON PATRONYMICS IN ARTOIS AND IN ENGLAND.
Seep, 134.
Family Names.
vEblings . . .
^clings . . .
flings . . .
^scingSi the royal
race of Kent .
French Villages,
Eblinghem
Aeclinghen .
iAlencthnn
Alenthun . ,
( Assinghen . .
\ Azincourt (the
( batUe-field)
yEslings
Aldiings
Adings .
Bafings .
Basings .
Baelings .
Eslinghen .
Audrehem .
L Autingues .
, < Audinghen .
( Audincthun
t Bayenghem
< Baincthun .
( Bainghen (2)
iBazinghen
Bezinghen
Balinghem
English Villages,
Ablington, Glouc, and Wilts,
Acklington, Northumberland,
iAllington, Kent, Hants, Ihrsety
Devon, Wilts, Lincoln,
iEssington, Staff,
Essentona (Exor^ Domesday),
MBK^Si!^ffJsl^CodexDiplomaticus,Surrey,
No. III).
{ Ashlingham, Kent,
\ Essdingaforda (Exon^ Domesday).
( .^alingaham {Cod. Dipt. No. in).
Aldrington, Sussex,
) Addington, Northants.
\ Adingtone {Kent, Domesday).
Bavington, Northumberland.
Bevington, Warwick,
Bevingford, Sussex.
Bassingham, Lincoln,
Basing, Hants,
Bessingham, Norfolk,
BesingHS {Cod, Dipt. No. 994).
Basingeham {Domesday, Sussex and
Lincoln),
Ballingham, Hereford.
Ballingdon, Essex,
Belingham {Sussex, Domesday).
Belintona {Hertfordshire, Dom,),
Digitized
by Google
1
492
AP,
Family Names,
French Villages,
Beorlings . .
Barlinghem .
Berlings . . .
Berlinghen . .
Bonnings . . .
Bonningues .
Bosings. . . ,
Boeseghem
Bucings . . .
Bouquinghen .
Boilings . . .
Bouvelinghem
Collings. . . .
Colincthun (2)
EUings .
Eorings.
Frescings
Frelings
Garlings
GystlingB
Mailings
Appendix.
Ellingehen
Eringhem .
Fereinghem
Frelinghien
Garlinghem
Guslinghem
Halinghen .
Efigiish Villages,
( Barling, Kent and Essex.
. } Boerlingas (Codex Dipl. Kent, No.
( 152).
( Birlingham, Worcestershire.
. < Berling, Sussex.
( Birling, Kent and Northumheriani.
( Boningale, Sahp.
\ Boninghall, Salop.
y Bonnington, Kent and Notts.
C Bonintone {Kent, Domesday).
iBossingham, Kent.
Bossington, Hants and Somerset
Bossingden, Kent.
Bosintuna {Exon' Domesdaj^.
/Buckingham, Bucks.
i Bocking, Essex and Suffolk.
, ) Boccingas (Cod. Dipt. Essex, No.
/ 698).
I Buccingas (Chron. Sax. A.D. 918).
. Bowling, Kent.
( CoUington, Sussex and Hereford.
, < Collingham, Notts, Yorkshire.
( Colingas (Cod. Dipt. IVilts, No. 336V
EUingham, Hants, Norfolk, North-
umherland.
Ellington, Kent, Hants, Yorh,
Northumberland.
Ellinge, Kent.
iEringham, Sussex.
Eringden, Yorkshire.
. Fressingfield, Suffolk.
Frillinghuist, Surrey,
Garlinge, Kent.
iGuestling, Sussex.
Gyrslingas {Cod. Dijd. Na 967)-
/ Hailing, Kent.
\ Hallington, Line. Northum.
jHalinga \^£^^^ i^^^ay).
I Hailinegai ^
[ Halingas (Cod, Dipt. Kent, No.lfo)-
Digitized
by Google
Patronymics.
493
Family Names, French Villages,
f Hardinghem .
. } Hardinghen
( Hardenthun
Hawringhen
Helvelinghem .
Herquelinghen
Heuringhen .
Heardings
Haeferings
Hdvelings
Hircdings
Horings.
Hundings
IslingB .
Ledings.
Ledrings
Lings .
Lodngs.
Lodings
Leasings
Lullings,
lings .
Mannings
Hondeghem
Islinghem .
Ledinghem.
Ledringhem
Linghem .
Locquinghen
Lottinghen
. Lozinghem
^1 ( Leulinghem
< Leulinghen
* ( Leulingue .
e Maninghem
* C Maninghen .
M«riiigs,Merovin. "j M^ringhe
gians of France )
Msessings
( Masinghen .
. < Mazinghem
( Mazingarbe
English Villages,
i Hardingham, Norfolk,
1 Hardingstone, Northamptonshire,
' J Hardington, Somerset.
' t Hardinctona ( Vorh. Domesday),
SHaveringham, Suffolk,
Havering, Essex,
Elvington, Yorkshire,
Heddinge, Kent,
( Horrington, Somerset.
, \ Herington, Dorset.
( Herringe, Kent,
t Huntingdon, Hunts.
. / Hunningham, Warwickshire,
( Hodingas {Cod. Dipt. No. 983).
Islington, Norfolk and Middlesex,
C Liddington, Rutland and IVtlts,
^ Ledlng {Domesday^ Somerset),
( Litheringham, Suffolk,
, < Ledrincgeham {Domesday, In^isiC
( Eliensis),
i lingham, Chesh.
, ? Lingen, Hereford,
( Lingas (Cod. Dipt. Mid, No. 159).
f Lodcing, Somerset.
, } LodLinge, Berks,
( Lockington, Leic. and Yorks,
Loddington, Kent. Leic, Northamp.
Lossingham, Kent.
. f Lullington, Sussex, Derby, Somerset.
. } Lillington, Dors. Oxford. Warwick,,
, ( Loligtona {Exon^ Domesday),
f Maningham, Norfolk.
} Manningtree, Essex.
' ( Mannington, Dors, and Norfolk,
{ Marington, Salop,
I Mering, Notts.
iMassingham, Norfolk.
Messingham, Lincoln.
Messing, Essex.
Msesingas {Cod. Dipt. No. 953).
Digitized
by Google
494
Appendix.
FamUy Names,
Maecsings . . .
Myrcings . . .
French Viilages,
Macquinghen .
Merkeghem .
MeUings . . .
Melingue-dal .
Mollings . . .
Molinghem
Ulings . . . .
Olincthun . .
Paellings . . .
Pelincthun . .
Rsedings . . .
Radinghem (2)
Kidngs ....
Racquinghem .
Ridings . . .
Recklinghem .
SinningB . . .
Senninghem .
Tastings
Teorlings
Tings .
Tortings
Todings
Trings .
Feorlings
Tatinghem .
f TeiUnctliun
' c Tourlincthun
Tinghen .
C Terdinghem
V. Tardinghen
Todincthun
Dringem .
( Verlinghen
< Verlinghem
\ Verlincthun
English Viliages.
Matdiing, Essex,
Markington, Yorkshire,
c Melling, Lancashire.
C Millington, Chesh, and Yorkshire.
( Molington, Chesh. Oxford. IVarw,
. } Mailing, UTent and Sussex.
\ Molintona (Cheshire, Domesdaf).
Ullingswick, Herefordshire,
( Pallington, Dorset.
1 Pallingham, Sussex.
' y Pilling, Lancashire.
( Palingas {Cod. Dipt. Sussex, No. 432).
SRaddington, Somersetshire,
Reading, Berkshire.
. Radingetuna {ExotC Domesday).
I Readingas (Cod. Dipt. Berks, No.
( 685).
r Rickinhall, Suffolk.
( Ragintona (Dorset, Do$nesday).
. Ridding, Essex.
rSennington, Yorkshire.
' X Senendone (Exon* Domesday).
r Tattingstone, Suffolk,
\ Taddington, Gloucester. Derby,
' S Tatintune (Hereford. Domesday\
{ Tatintone (Gloucester, Domesday).
t Terling, Essex.
' } Terlingas (Cod, LHpL Essex, No.
'( 907).
Tingeham (2>orset, Domesday).
' i Tortington, Sussex.
iToddington, Bedford. Gloucester.
Tottington, Lane. Norfolk,
Totingas (Cod. Dipt, Surrey, Nos.
363, 785).
. Tring, HerU,
, L Farlington, Hants, Yorkshire.
. < Ferlintun { York, Domesday).
. ( Ferlingelai (JCent^ Domesday).
Digitized
by Google
Patronymics.
495
Family Names. French Villages.
Wiccings
Westings
Wealings
Wadings
c Wicquinghem .
* c Wacquinhem .
Ouestinghen .
Velinghen
Wadenthun
English Villages.
C Witchingham, Norfolk,
1 Wickinghurst, Kent.
y Wigingas (Cod. Dipl. Kent, No. 225 ;
C Chron. Sax, Herts, a.d. 921).
Westington, Gloucestershire.
/ Wellingham, Sussex.
WeUinft Kent.
/Wellington, HiltSy Salop, Som, Herts.
I Wdingas {Cod. Dipl. Wilts, No. 462).
\ Wellingas {Cod.Dipl. Herts, No. 410).
/• Waddington, Lincoln, Yorkshire.
I Waddinghaln, Lincoln.
Digitized
by Google
496
Appendix.
PATRONYMICS IN ENGLAND, GERMANY, AND FRANCE,
See pp. 144—152.
\* The German names in the third column to which a ff^ is appended are
in the Westphalian district The rest are in Franconia and Swabia, unless the
contraiy is expressly stated.
Families, England, Germany,
Ecgings . Eckington, Deu, War, Eckingen
France
Edings
Eadlings
Efings .
iEfings.
Ofings .
Uffings.
Eoferings
Eaglings
Icelings
Autigny, Cham, {^^Larr^
Audenge, Guienne,
Edington, Ber, Som, Eutingen •
Wilts, NthU.
Edlingham, Nthld. , Aidlingen
Edlington, Z»(. York, Ettlingen
Oetlingen
Evingar, Hants, , . Oevinghausen,^ Effinconrt, Cham.
Evington, Gl, Lan, . Ehingen
Effingham, 3'ftf. . . Oeffingen
Avington, Ber. Hants, Auingen . . . Auvignac, Ang,
Ovington, Ess, Hants. Offignies^ Pic.
Nor, Nthld, York,
Ovingham,ybr>6,W3!'A/</ Offingen . . . Offingnes, 7. ofF.
Oving, Sus, Bucks, . Owingen . . . Oigny, Pic., Bur,, Vend
Vffington,BerJLin,Sdl. Euffignenz, Cham.
Uihingen . . . Juvigny, Nor.
Everingham, York. . Effringen . . . Evrange, Lorr,
Erfiinghausen, ^. Avrigny, Fr, Com.
Eglingham, Nthld.
Icklingham, Suf. .
Eglingen (2)
Igglingen
Digitized
by Google
Patrof^mics.
497
Families,
idlings
Ellings.
lUiogs
England, Germany, France,
Allington, Deu, Dor, Allinges, Burg, (2).
Hants, Kent, Lin, . . Alaigne, Nrvem,
Wilts, . Alligny, Bur,, Berru
. . ' Alincourt, Champa
AlainCQurt, /r. C«w.,Z<?fr.
£lliDghain,^af«.A^. Oeliogbaiisen, ^.
Nthld,
Ellington, Hunts^ OeQingen
Kent, Nthld, Yar,
niington. Nor, . . Illingen . . . Iligny, Burg.
lUingworth, York, . Ihlingen
Eldngs
Aldings
Alkington, Glo, Sal,
Elkington, A^/». Z/>f . Elchmgen
Aldingliam, Lan. . • Aldingen
Aldington, Kent, Altingen
IVorc, • , . . Hailtingien
' ' * Eltingen
Alzing, Lorr,
Elzange, Lorr,
./Elfings . Alphington, Dev,
Elxnington, Ntham,
Elleiington, Nthld,
Xmnungliam, Lin,
Elrings
Emmings
Annings
Antings
Alfingen •
Eilfingerhof
Ailringen
Imminghausen, W,
Euiiuingcn'
Alvignac, Quercy,
Elvange, Lorr,
Anningas (CVk/. Dip.), Uninghausen, W, Aniange, Fr, Com,
Antingham, Noff, . Antigny,^«n(2)/'^?i/.(2).
Andign^ Lorr,
Eppings . Epping, £ss.
Ipings •
iEbings
. . Eppinghofen, IV, Epping, Lorr,
Ebbinghausen, PV. Epagny, Bur,, Fie.
Epagne, Cham.
Ipings Sus, Ibigny, Lorr,
Abington, Cam, ..
Appingadam,
Grontngen ,
K K
Aubign^, Foit,,Anj, (2).
Aubigny, j5«f . (3), Cham,
(3), Niev, (2), Berri.
(2), F, Com,
Ebbange, Lorr,
Epinac, Bur^
Digitized
by Google
498
Families.
Upings . .
Arrings
Eorrings .
Iring8(royal
race of
Avars).
Arlings. .
Earmings .
Eorpings .
Ercensings.
Artings
EardiDgs .
iCsdngs .
Isings
iEsclings .
(CD,)
Islings . .
iCtings
Ettings.
Appendix.
Engiand, Germany, France,
Uppingham, Rut, . Upfingen
Uppiftgton, Sal, . . Oppingen
Arrington, Cam, . , Ehxingen . . . Arrigny, Champ,
Erringden, York, . . Erringbausen, W, Eragny, Bur,
Erringham, Sus, , . Oehriog^n . . Erigne, Anj.
Exinges, Bttr,
Origny, Cham.^ Bur.^
Pic, (2).
Irigny, Z/KWi.
Arlingham, Glou, . Erligheim
Arliogton,Z>a/. Globus,
Ermington, Dev, . . Enningen
Erpingham, Nor, . . Erpfingen
Orpington, JCent, Orbigny, ChamJl^i^ Tour.
Kensington, Mid, . Ezgenzingen
Artington, Sus, Artigny, Tour,
Erdington, IVar, , . Ertingen
Eardington, Sal,
Assington, Em, , . AssinghauBen, W, Assigny, Berri,
Essington, Sla/, . . Essingen . . . Essigny, /. o/F,
Eaaington, Buc, Dur, Oeschingen
Glon,NthkLOx,York,
Issington, Hants, Isigny, Lorr,
Ising, Lorr.
Ashling, Sus, . . Aislingen
Islington, Nor, Mid, . Esslingen . . . Etzling Lorr.
Eislingen
Attington^ Oxon. . . Atting .... Attigny, Lorr.<, Ckam.
Aygem, Belgium
(once Addingem)
Ettinghall, Siaf, . . Ettenheim . . Etting, Lorr.
Oettinger . . . Etigny, Ckam.
Etang, Bur. (2), /. 0/Fr.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
Patronymics, 499
Families, England. Germany, France.
Baebings . . Babtngton, Som, : . Babing . . . Balbigny, Bur.
Bobbings . Bobinger, Ess. . . Bobinger . . . Baubigny, Norm,
Bobbing, Kent . . Bobingen . . . Beaubigny, Bur,
"^hh\n^on,Staf,Sal, . . ... . . Bohigay, /. 4/ Fr.
Bobbingworth, Ess,
Beccmgs . Beckingham,^j-j. ZiVi. Bechingen (2) . Beoquigny, Fie.
Notts,
Beckington, Som.
Begging, Ess, , . . Bigginghausen, fV
Bodogg . Bocking, Ess, Suf, Bochingen . . Bouquigny, Maine,
Buckingham, Berks^ Bocquegney, Cham,
Essex, Bucks, Bochange^ Lorr,
Bsedings Beeding, Sus, , . . Betinfi^of^ IV, , Betting, Lorr,
(Cod, Dip.) Beddington, iSWr. . . Bottingen.' . . Bettigny, Cham.
Beddingham, Sus, Bettagny, Lorr,
Norf, Biding .... Biding, Lorr,
Bietigheim . . Bettange, Lorr,
Bettignies, Hain.
Bttdings . Buddington, Sus, . . Beutingen . . Buding, Lorr,
Bsedlings . Bedlington, Dur, , . Bettlingen . . Budeling, Lorr.
Betlinghausen, fT
Biterings . Bittering^ Noff, , , Bettringen
Bofings . Bovington, Ess, , , Bopfingen . . Bouvigny, Loi^.
Bovingdon, Herts, , Boihingen . . Boigny, Orl.
* Bolnghausen, W*
Beofings . Bevington, War, . . Beihingen.
Bellings . Bellinger, Hants, . . BoUingerhof . . Bdingreville, Norm,
Bellingbam, Nthld, , Belinghausen. . Belligne, Anjou,
Bellingdon, Bucks Belligneux, Burg,
Belange, Lorr,
Bselings . Ballingham, Here, Balagny, 7. ofF, (2).
Balingdon, Ess, Blagny, Burg,
Billings . Billing, Nthld, , , Billenhausen . . Billanges, Marche,
Billinge, Lan. , , . Billingsbach « . Bligny,^»i2r. (3), Champ.
Billingbam, Dur, , . Billinghausen, W, (3).
Billingside, Dur,
Billingley, York,
Bolings. . Bolingbroke, Lin, , BoUingen . . . Bolligney, Fr. Com,
Bollington, Ess, Ches BoUigneux, Bur,
Bowling, Kent, Bologne, Champ,
K K 2 n \
Digitized by VjOOQIC
500
Appendix.
Families.
Ballings
England,
. Bullingdon, Oxon.- .
Bullingham, Here,
Germany,
Buhlingen
Fhince.
. BuUigny, Lorr,
Blsecings
, Bletchingley, Sur, .
Bletchington, Oxon.
. Blocljingen .
. Blessignac, Guienne.
Beltings .
Belting, Kent. . . .
Baldittgen
Bennings
Bennington, Herts. Lin
. Bennincen ■ •
. Bening, Larr. (2).
Bings
Benningworth, Lin, . Benninghausen^ Benigne^ Burg.
Benningbrough,. l^f/i. Bonnigheim
Bonnington,A>»/.^j^f. Beuningen, Lim-
Notts, * . . . • . Imrg.
Bing, Suff. .... Bingen . . . Binges, Burg.
Bingham, Nthainp: , Buigny, Champ.
Bingley, York,
Bondings . Bondington, Soth Bontigny, Lorr,
Beorings .
Berrings .
Barrings
Barrington, Soirl, Ess. Bahringen » , Berigny, Norm.
Glo. Cam. Berks, Bieringen . . • Berengeville, Norm.
Berrington, Dur, Gl, "RexvagNL^Limburg,
Sal, JVor, , • . Beringen,
(Charters)
Barrington, Z?«/..^<rr^. Bohringen
Som,
Barringham, Lin,
Eberdings . Birdingbary. JVar, . Eberdingen
Birlings
Berling, Sus, , , , Bierllngen • . Berlingen, Alsace,
Birling, JTent, Nthid. Berlinghausen, W^
Bermarings
Beomings .
Birmingham, War.
Banning, Kent
Bermaringen
Bamingham,^f(^'K?r>&. Bemingfaausen,
Notts, W.
Brantings . Brantingham, York, Brantigny, Champ.
Braughin, Herts, , , Brockingen
Brahcings ,
{CD.)
Digitized
by Google
Patronymics, joi
Families, England. Germany, France,.
Bressmgs . Breasinghani, iVbr. . Bretzingen
Brimings . Brimington, Derby . Brdmingsweiler
Brislings . Brislington, Som, . . Borslingen (2)
Briting? . Brfttenton, Ox, . . Breitingen . . Bretegny, Fr, C, (2),
Nor,^ Bur,, I, of Fr.
Basings . Basing, Hants . • . Baisingen . . . Bazegny, Cham., Fr. C.
Bassingham, Lin, . Beisinghausen, W
Bessings . Bessingby, York, . . Btssingen (2) . . Bissines, Lim,
Bessingham, Nor, , Bessigheim ^ , Bezing, Beam,
Betzingen , . , Bezange, Lorr,
BuslingB . Buslingthoipe. Z4n, . Borslingen . . Bonsaelange, Bur.
Cidings . Keddington, Zfxi. . Keddinghausen, ^ Quettgny, uffi/r^.
Kedington, Ess, iii^^ Kottinghansen, f^
Geddings . Gedding, Suf, . . . Jettingen
Yeading, Mi<L
Csedings , Caddington,^d/.-^«r^ ...... Catigny, /. o/F.
Codings . Goddington, Oxon. . Gottingen
Ceadlings Gedling, Notts, , . Giiltlingen^
<7rCycelmgs Gogglingen
Cucklington, Som. . Guglingen
Gaegings Gagingwell, Oxon, • Gechingen
Gachingen
Cofings . Covington, Hunts, . GofiGingen . . . Cauvigny, /. o/F,, Pic,
Couvignon, Champ.
Cifings . , Chevington, Suf, Chevigny, Cham., Fr.
Nthld. Com, (4), Burg. (3).
Chevincourt, /. of Fr.
Chavigny, Fr, Com. (4),
/. ofPr. (2), Lorr.
Ifings . . Jevington, Sus, Gevigny, Fr, Com,
lyinghoe, Bucks. ........ Juvign^ Maine,
Juvigny, Champ,, 1. of
Fr, (2), Lorr, (2),
Norm, {4), Pic.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
502 Appendix,
Familiis. England. Germany, France.
Callings . CalUngton, Com Caligny, Norm,
Challange, Burg. Nor,
Galinagues, LoMg,
Cyllings . Chellington, Bedf, . KeHioghausen, W Challange, Burg, Norm,
Kelling, Norf,
Kellin^on, York, , Kdlinghausen, Chaligny, Lorr.
ChilUngton, 5i9;n./>n/. Holstein
Chillingham, Nthld, . GeUinghausen^fT.
Gillings . Gilling, York, . . . Killingen . . . JuUigny, Burg,
Gmmgham^Dor.JiTent, Jaligny* Bourb.
Nor.
Yemng,Nunls.
Collings . Collinghani,JV(7/Kr, York Collonge, Bur^.
Collington, Ifere. Coligny, Bufg.
Cullings . CuUingworth, York, ....... Coulange, Bur. Bourb.
Camerings. Cameringham, Lin, . Gemmrigheim . Chemigny, /. o/Fr,
Gomaringen
Cennings . Kennington, JiTenf, Gonningen .
Surrey, Berks,
Ginga . . Ginge, Berks , . , GiDgen . . . . Gigny, Bur. (2), Ckam.
Giengen . . . (2), Lorr., Fir^ C
Jeugny, Cham,
Copings . Coppingsyke, Lin. , Knppingen
Cubings , Cubbington, fVar,
Gippings . Gipping, Su/, . . . Goppingen
Cerrings . Carrington, Cker. Lin Charigny, Burg.
Notts
Charing, jKent
Chemngton^fVor.Sdl. GvLcngay, Niev.
Corings . Corringham, Zm. ^/. Corignac, (rt«i/ffir^.
Cearlings . Carlingcot, Som Carling, Lorr.
Garlings . Garlinge, jKent . , Gerlingen
Yarlington, Som, , . . Geiiiogfaanaen, W
CyrtHogs . Kirtling, Cam. . . Kortlinghatiaen, IK
Cridliiigs . Cridling Stubbs, K^^. Creglingen
Digitized by VjOOQIC
Patronymics.
S03
Families, Engiand, Germany,
Cressings . Cressing, Ess, ... . Griesingen 1
Cressingham, Narf, , Grozingen
Csessiiigs . CassingtoD, Oxon, , Kasing
Geisingen . -
Chessington, Sur, . Jesingen .
Kessingland, Suf.. , Kosingen .
Giissingen
. Cossva^oTit Leic. Som
Cossington, Kent ....
France,
Gressigny, Burg,
ChsLS^gay,Burg,yCAam.
Chasseigne, Niev.
Chaasange, Bur,t Fr,
Com., Niev.
Chessigny, Burg.
Jossigny, /. ofF. Bur.
Gussignies, F7an,
Ghisignies, F/an.
Gislings . Gislingham, Su/, , . Geislingen
Gestings . Gestingthorpe, Ess, , Jusfingeii
Tibbings
. Tibbington, S^af. . ,
Tubingen
Docmgs
. Docking, JVbr/. , .
DocMngen
Dyeings
. Duckington, CAes, ,
Dachingen
DykingSy Un, . . .
•Doggingen (2)
Dicelings
. Ditchling, iW. . .
Dnsslingen . . Desseling, Lorr.
Deddings
. Deddington, Oxon, ,
Dedinghausen, W,
Diddings
, Diddington, JIunts ,
Dietingen
Dottingen
Dattingen
Dettingen(6)« . Teting, Z<?rr.
Daiting . . . Theding, Lorr.
Dodings
, Doddington, Cam.
Dottingen
Ches, Kent, Lin,
Dudinghausen^ IV
Nthld. Ntham,
Dodington, Glou. Sal,
Som,
Todings
, Toddington, Bed,
Tottington, Nor. Lan
^ In the Charters Chresinga. Kausler, Urkund. vol. i. p. 407.
* Teddingen, Tettingen, and Totingen in the Charters. See Kausler.
Digitized
by Google
504 Appendix.
Families, England. Germany, France,
Daefings . Davington, Kent , . Doffingen . • . Davignac, Lim,
Daigny, Cham.
Digny, Orl.
Dillings . DQlington, Nor. • , Dehlingen . . Ddincourt, /. o/F.
Paellings . Dalling, Norf, Talange^ Lorr.
Dallington, Sus.
Nthmp.
Demings
• Demingen
. Demigny, Burg,
Dinnings . Dinnington, Som.
York, Nthld,
Deiningen
Dintings . Dinting, Derby .
. Dentingen^
Denting, Lorr.
Duzings or Thorington, Suf, ,
Thurings. Thorrington, Ess.
I. ofFr.
Thorign^ PoiL
Dartings . Dartington, Dev. ,
. Dertingen . .
. Tartigny, /Vf .
Trings . . Tring, Herts , ,
. Triimv. Chant.
Thiangy, lufrr.
Dissings . Dissington, Nthld,
Dischingien .
Ditzingen
. Dcsaignes, Lang.
Finnings . Finningham, Su/, . Finingen
Feonnings. Farmington, G/ou Formigny, Norm,
Frestings . Frestintorp {Vorh^ Frestingen
Domesday)
Frings . . Fring, Nor, Frignicourt, Cham.
Freign<5, Anj.
Vr^[ny, /. of Fr.
Vrigny, Cham. , Orl.^Nar.
Frescings . Fressingfield, Suf. Fressincs, Poit.
Fressigne, Marcke.
Frilings . Frillinghurst, Sur, . Frilinghausen, W.
* Tantiga in Charters.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
Patronymics. 505
Families, England, ■ Germany, France.
Haectngs • Heckinghaixiy Nor, , Hecldngen « . Hickange, Lor.
Heckington, Lin.
HdghingtOD, Z7»r.Z««. ...... Heyingen, Lor,
Hodngs . Hucldng, JiTent Hocquincourt, Pic. (2).
Haedings . Haddington, Lin Hadigny, Cham., Lor.
Heddings . Heddingham, Ess. . Heddinghansen, ff^Hettange, Lorr. (2).
Heddington,"Wi/i;f' *
Hadings . Haddington, . IVpr. . . Hitting . . . Hodeng, Nor.
Hodenger, Nor.
Heofings . Hevingbam, Nor^ . Hofingen.
Hofings . Hovingham, York,
Hellings . HelUngfaill, Nthld. . . Hellmghausen,»f.HeUing, Lor.
. . Hoelling, Lor.
. . Haligniooart, CAam.
Holings . Hollington, Staff.Sus. Holling, Lor,
Deo,
Hemings . Hemington, Niham. Hemmingen . . Heming, Lor.^ A Is.
Som Hemminghatisen, ff^
Hemingbrongh, Yor. Hemingstedt,
Hohiein, «
Hanings . Hannington, Hanis^ Heiningen . . Hiening, Lor,
Ntham. Wilts . . Henmnghansen, W,
Hanings . Hunningham, War. Huningue, Als.
Handings . Hnntingdon, Hunts . Undingen . . Hunting, Ijor.
Hensings • Hensii^on, Oxon ........ Hensing, Lorr.
Hensingham, Cum Hinsingen, Als.
Heorings . Herring, Kent^ Dor. . Heringhausen, W. Hareigny, Pic.
Hearings . Harrington, Z4«.A^0X.Haiingkarspe],
Homsey, Mid. (an- ffolland,
dently Haringsey)
Horings . Horrington, Som Horigny, Burg.
Origny, Burg., L of Fr.
Herelings . Harling, Norf. , . Herrlingen . • Hallering, Lorr.
Harlington,^A/. Mid. Herlingen . . Hellering, Lorr. (2).
York. Hirrlingen
Digitized by VjOOQIC
S06 Appendix,
Families, EnglantL Gtrmany, France,
Heardings . Hardinghanv Norf, Hardanconrt, Lorr.
Hsessings . Hassinghwn,, Nor, . , Hessigheim . . Hesingue, Als,
Hansixigen
HiceUngB . Hickling^ Nor, Notts, Heucfaliogen
Hecklinge, Kent
Hnsliiigs . Heslington, York, Hesliog, Lorr,
Hsestings . Hastings, Sus, Btr, Hatdngues, Gcx,
War, Nihasn,
Lsedogs . Lackington, Som, . Laichingen. . . Lixing, Lorr, (2).
Lachingdon, Ess,
Leasings . Leasingham, Lin, , Lazmgen . . . Lassigny, Pic.
Lossiogham, JCettt Lusigny, Bur^,
Lissington, Lin, Lessigny, /. qfFf',^ Pat,
Leagne, Anj,
Ledings . Leding {Som, Dom,) Letiog^ Lorr,
lAddrngpoHf/^ui, fViUf Ladignac, Zmi . (2), (Tui
Lidlings • LidlingtoD, Bed, , . X/euglingen
LedringB . Lediincgeham {£fy Liitzizighausen, fV,
Domesday)
Leafings . Layington, jKen/ Lavigpy^ Fr, C, (2).
Leavington, York, , Laiiingen . . . Levigny, CAam,
L«vington, Su/, Leffincooit, Ckam,
LevignaCy Gta. (2).
Levigneu, /. qfFr.
Lofings . Lovington, Som, Ess, Loavagny, Nor,
LouTigny, Nor,
Leavigne, Maim,
Lseferiogs . Leverington, Cam, . Leveringliaiisen, W,
LuIIings . LuUington, Dev. Som, LoUinghansen, IV,
Sus,
Lings . • Lingbam, Ches, Ligny, Lorr,, Nieo. {2\
Ungs, York Bur,^ Cham,, OrL
Lingen, Here, Legny, Burg,
Laign4 Put (2), Ai9,j
Maine.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
Patronymics.
507
Families, England,
Mecmgs . Meeching, Sut. .
Mseglings . Maudling, Sus. .
MaUmgs . Mailing;, JCent, Sus.
Germany,
Maichingen
France,
Mecquingies, Flan,
Macquigny, Pic,
Mogglingen (2)
Mecklinghaiisen, W,
Mellings
MillingB
MoIUngs
Mincings
Mintings
Myrcings
Melxng, Lan, , . .
Millington, Ches, York,
MoUington, Ches, Ox,
Wor,
Malange, Fr, C,
Malign^, Orl,
Maligny, Bur,^ Cham,
Meaing . . . Meligny, Lor, (2).
Millinghausen, W, Melincoart, Fr, C,
Melange, Lorr,
MoUincourt, /. of I^r,
...... Molinges, Fr, C,
Molangues, /. ofFr,
JtiCinchingbuTy, Herts,
Minting, Lin, . . .
Miinchingen
Mnndingen .
MarkiDgtOQ, York,
Marchington, Siaf,
Merkingen
Emerkingen
Maerings or Merixig, Notts . . . Mohringen ^ .
Myigings Merrington, .SVi/.2>i#r. Muhringen* .
(Merovin- Marrington, Sal. , , Mahringen .
gians, the Moringeh . .
royal race Mehring . .
ofFnmce) Emeringen .
Vollmaringen
. Montigny, Fr, Com, (3),
Norm,f I, of Fr,<,
Flan. (2).
. Marcigny, Bur, (2).
. Marquigny, Cham,
Marsigne, Niev,
, Marigny, Bur, (3),
Cham, (2), Pdt, (3),
Orl.yLofFr,,Bour,,
, Norm. (2), Fr. C,
, Neiv. (3).
. Emeringe, Bur,
, Merigny, Poit.
Meeringes, Cham,
Maringfe, Bur,
Maragny, Bur,
Marignac, Gui. (6).
Mairegne, Lang.
Marigna, Fr. C. (3).
Marign^, Anj, (2),
Maine,
Merignac, Gui, (3).
Morigny, Bur,^ L ofFr,
^ Meringen in Charters.
• Mieringen in Charteis, Kastsler, vol. i. p. 34.
Digitized
by Google
5o8 Appendix,
Families, England, . Germany, France.
Msessings . Massingham^ iVb//> • Messi]ig1)au$en,^.Ma5signy, Bur.
Messing, Ess. Mossingen • . Messigny, Bur.
Messmgham, ZJn, . Metziiigen • • Messignac, Bur,
MotzingfeQ * . . Metzing, Lorr.
Mossingen . . Musigny, Bur,
Maetings . Mettingham, Suf. • Mietingen. « . Metting, Lorr,
Mattingley, Hants Matigny, L o/Fr,
Masdings . Maddington, Wilts ^ , Medingen . . M«d^ny, Champ.
Madingley, Can^,
Mottings . Mottingham, Kent Mutigny, Cham.
Mutlings . Mudlingy Ess, . . . Mottlingen
Naecings • Nedging, Suf, , , . Notzingen
Nichtinghansen, IV,
Nydings . Needingworth, Hun, Nettingen . . Nitting, Lorr.
NoUingB . NoUington, Sus, . . Nellingen (2) . Nelling, Lorr.
Nellingheim
Pdecdngs . Patchings Ess. Sus,, . Peiching . . . Picqnigny, JPie.
Pnssigny, Tour.
Paefings . Pavingham, BeJ, , . Pfaffingen . . Pogney, Fr, C.
' Fcvrngton, Kent ........ Pcugny, Fr. C.
Poigny, Lorr.
Pagny, CAam., Bur. (2;,
Z^. (3).
Paellings , Palling, //off. Paligny, Bur. (2).
Pallingham, Sus, Palignes, Bur.
Pallington, I}or.
Polings , Poling, Sus, Poligny, Cham., Fnf.,
Pollington, Ybrh, Fr, C. {2).
Potdigny, Bur., Ffit.,
Berri (2), Fr. C.
Poulangy, Cham,
Pulling * . , Pnlligny, Lorr,
Pennings . Pennington^a#fi;r,Zaif. Pinning
Digitized by VjOOQIC
Patronymics.
509
Families,
Porings.
FaetiDgs
Petlings
England,
Poringland, Norf,
Germany.
Poring
Pattmgfaam, .S^z/. 5/0/: . . .
Puddington,^^^. Ci^. Patting
Dev,
Peatling, Leic, ,
Pedling, JCenl
Pttttlingen, Wi
Psetrings . Patxington, York,
France,
Perigny, Bur, (7), Fr,
C, (2\ Foil,
Perigne, Foil, Maine {2),
Perignac, Guin. (2).
Paiigny, Bur, (3), Mr,
Patigny, Bur,
Petignacy Ang,
Petring, Lor,
Rocings • Rockingham, Nham, Rockingen
Ridings
Rsedings
Rodings
Rsetlings
Rickling, Ess, ,
Reddinge, Der,
Reddings, Ess,
Readings, Ess,
Reading, Ber, .
Rodington, Sal,
Rottington, Cum,
Ratlinghope, Sal,
Redlingfield, Suf,
Rifings . , Rivington, Lan,
Rillings . Rillington, York,
Rimmingg . Rimmington, York,
Rigny, FoU.^ Cham.
(3), Tour,, Fr, C,
Furg.
Reck]ing1uiiisen,fr.Richling^ Larr,
Rieding • .
Rodinghausen^
W, '
Rottingen
Rodiqg
Riedlingen (2)
Reutlingen
Reutlingidorf
Radling
Ratlinghausen, W,
Reding, Lorr,
Redange, Lorr,
Rifi&ngen .
Revigny, Lor,
Ruvigny, Cham,
Rouffignac, Ferig. (2).
Rooffigny, Norm,
Rellinghaus, W,
Rielingshausen, IV.
Rehlingen
Rehling
Remmingbeim
Rfljnmingen .
Rahling, Lorr,
Remigny, Bur, (2), Fie.
Rumigny, Cham., Pic.
Digitized
by Google
Sio
Appendix.
Familus.
Rennings .
Riplings
Rustings
Rowings
England.
Renningtoii, Nikld^
Germany.
Renningen .
Ringingen (2)
Rohning
France,
Riplingham, York. Riiblingen
Riplington, Hants, Rieblingen
Nthld.
Rising, Nor. .
Rissington, Glou,
Rnstington, Sus,
Rowington, JVar.
. Rissing . . .
, Reissing
Rexingen
Reixingen
Ritzing . . .
Ratzing
Res^em, Bef-
gium.^
Reistingen
Rotgheim .
Resigny, Pic.
Ritzing, Larr.
Restigny, Tour.
Rogney, Ckam.
Secgings . Seckington, War.
Sceadings . Shadingfield, Suf.
Sceanings . Shenin^on, Glou,
Syclings . Sicklinghall, York.
Sceadings . Skeckling, York.
Sydlings . Sydling, Dor. . .
Sickingen
Schockingen
Schietingen
Scheningen
Siglingen
Ziittlingen
Siedlinghatuen, W.
Scyllings . Shellington, Bed. . Schillinger
SHillingthorpe, JJn.
Sselings. « Saling, Ess. . Saligny, Bur., Fr.
Com., Ckam., Bouri.,
PoiL
Saleigne, Firii.
Salignac, Cm. (3).
^ Anciently Rassinghem.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
Families, England,
SuUings . Sollington, Sus,
Patronymics,
Germany,
5"
Sixmings . SinniDgtoii, York, .
SancUings . Sandling, Ji^ait
Sjrfings .
Soeafings
Seafings
Seyington, jKent ,
Shavington, Cker,
Shevington, Zan,
Seavington, Som.
, Sinning .
2^ainlngen
. Sindlingen
. Zobingen .
Sealfings . SalYington, Sus,
Soflingen .
France.
Solongy, Bur,
Soulagny, ^or,
S9iiligny, CAam.
Soulignac, Gut,
Signy, CAam,
Sevigny, CAam,
Savigny, Bur,(S), Nor.,
CAam, (3), Fr, C„
Poii,, Lorr,^ Berri,
/. o/Fr,
Savign^, Foil,, Maine,
(2), Tour,
Savigneux, Bur, (2).
Savigna, Bur,
Savignac, Gui.
Savignies, /. o/Fr,
Sauvagny, Fr, Com,
Sauvigny, Bur, (3), Fr,
Com, (3), FL
Sdvigny, Fland,
Silvange, Lorr,
Seppings . Seppingeham, (Zmr. Snppmgen
Domesday)
Serings . . Shering, Ess, • . . Serrigny, Bur, (3), Foil.
Sherringham, Nor,
Sherrington, Bucks, Scringes, /. ofFr,
Wilts, , Serignac, Gui, (4).
Soearings . Sharrington, Nor, ....... Sarronga, Bur,
Sarregny, Bur,
Sarrign^, Anj,
Sorigny, Foil,
Scannings. Swannington,A^ar.Z^. Schwenningen
Swefelings. Sw6ffling, Suf, . . Zwdflingen
Digitized
by Google
51^
Appendix.
Families,
Wiccings .
Widiags .
Wealings .
Fylings .
Wealdmgs.
Wealdrings
Wxlsixigs »
Wendlings.
Wippings .
Waeplings .
EnglamL
Witchingham, Nor.
Germany,
Weiching . .
Weckinghausen, W,
France.
Witchling, Kent . . Weuchlingen
Welling, Aiw/. . .
Wellington, Here, Sal,
Som, Wilts,
Fylingthorpe, York ,
Fylingdales, York, ,
Wellingen
Vellinghausen, IV,
PfuUingen
Fuligny, Cham^
Fottlanges, L o/Fr,
Folligny, Nor,
Waldingfidd, Suf,
Wildingtree, Ess,
Waldringfidd, Suff.
Walsingham, Nor,
Wendling, Nor, ,
Whippingham, Han,
Waplington, York,
Weldingsfelden
Weiltingea
Walding
Waiting
Waltringhausen, W,
Wilsingen
Wendlingen
Wippingen
Waiblingen
Wiblingen
Waibling
Ferrings . Ferring, Ess, Sus, , Vohringenf
Warrings . Werrington, JDev,
Ntham
Wereingeurda (Ex,
Domesday) , , .
Verigny, Lor:r,
Farincoait, Cham,
Fenange, Lorr.
Wehringen
Weringhausen
Wieringerwaard, Varengrefille^ Nor, (2\
Holland.
Wsesings . Wessington, Derby .
Wasing, Berks, , ,
Washington, Dev, Dur,
Sus,
Wissington, Sal, Suf,
Wessingen
Wasing .
Vasincoiirt, Lorr.
Wiscings .
Weordings. Worthing, Nor,' Sus, . Wbrtingen
Wiesing
Wissinghausen, W.
1 Veringen in Charters, Kausler^ vol. I p. 315.
Digitized
by Google
Patronymics,
Families,
England,
Germany,
Vestings .
, Westington, Clou.
Oestinghausen, W,
Vittings .
, Whittington, Dezf, Gl,
Wittingen
Nthld. Lan, Nor,
Weitingcn
SaLStaf, War, Wor,
Whittingham, Lan,
Nthld,
Weddington, War, .
Weddinghausen .
513
France,
Wederings. Wittering, Sus, . . Wittringen
Witherington, Wilts,
Witlings . Whitlingham, Nor, . Wittlingen
Vctrigne, Fr, Com,
%* The English village-names have been taken chiefly from Mr. Kemble's
lists, supplemented from the Ordnance MapSy the Codex Diplomaticus and
Domesday : the German names from Bender's Ortsnamen, and the Government
Surveys of Wiirtemberg and Bavaria : the French names from St. Fargeau's
useful DicHonnaire de toutes les Communes de la France^ and from the great
French Survey.
L L
Digitized
by Google
514
Index L — Local Nantes.
INDEX. I.
LOCAL NAMES.
Aar River, 217.
Aayn il Kebira, 102.
Aayn Taiba, 102.
AbbevUle, 345.
Abbots. Langley, 345.
Abdelali, 10 1.
Aber Beniguet, 345.
Aberdare, 245.
Abergavenny, 245.
Abergele, 245.
Abervrack, 245.
Aberystwith, 245,
Abono River, 199.
Abridge, ^84, 463.
Abury, 464.
Achelous, 87.
Acheron, 87.
Acqui, 465.
Acre, 466.
Acton, 468.
Acton Turville, 191.
Adana, 93.
Adige River, 383.
Adra, 97.
Adria, 357, 472.
Adrianople, 318.
Adstock, 463.
Adyn Tor, 225.
A^s or A^se River, 204.
Aflf River, 198.
Africa, 78.
Agulhas, Cape, 31.
Agylla, 93.
Ah r River, 217.
Ainas, 115,
Aire River, 216.
Aislingen, 151.
Aithsthing, 295.
Aithsvoe, 170.
Aix la Chapelle, 346,
465.
Ajaccio, 102.
Ajalon, 467.
Akeman Street, 251, 465.
Akhtag Mountains, 473.
Akka, 376, 466.
Alalein Glacier, 113.
Alan River, 214.
Albania, 83, 475.
Albany, 27, 475.
Albemarle Sound, 26.
Albigna, 115.
Albion, 83, 475.
Alborge, 108.
Albuera, 106.
Albufeira, 108.
Albury, 464.
Alcacova, 108.
Alcala, 65, 106, 107.
Alcana, 108.
Alcantara, 108.
Alcara, loi.
Alcarria, 108, 212.
Alcaza, 108.
Alcester, 214, 464.
Alde^ 108.
Aldersholt, 36a
Aldershot, 360, 468.
Aldgate, 272.
Aldrich, 173.
Aldrup, 158.
Alencthun, 119.
Alessandria, 316.
Alexandretta, 316.
Alexandria, 316.
Alexandre V, 316.
Alfidena, 100.
Algarbe, 76, 108, 463.
Algeziras, 104.
Alghero, loa.
Algidus, Mount, 47a
Algiers, 104.
Algoa Bay, 31, 106.
Alhambra, 106, loS.
Alicant, 106. j
A life, loa
Allan River, 214.
Alleghany, 17.
Allen River, 214.
AUerton, 468.
All wen River, 214.
Almaden, 108.
Almagel, 112.
Almanza, 106, 108.
Almarez, 106.
Almaro River, 100.
Almazara, 10&
Almazen, 108.
Almeida, 106, 108.
Almena, 108.
Aln River, 214.
Alnwick, 169.
Alps, The, 475.
Alpuxarras. 108.
Alqueria, 108.
Alresford, 164.
Alsace, 69.
Althing, 294.
Althorp, 158, 464.
Altmark, 265.
Altmiihl, 389.
Digitized
by Google
Index I. — Local Names.
51S
Alton, 464.
Altona, 119.
Altorf, 158, 464.
Altrans, 50.
Alum Bay, 466.
Alvaschein, 115.
Alvenen, 115.
Alverstoke, 121.
Amathe, 93.
Amazons River, 30.
Ambleston, 177.
Ambresbury, 315.
America, ii.
Amersham, 381.
Ameselum, 93.
Ampurias, 374.
Amsteg, 463.
Amwis, 376.
Anab, 469.
Anatolia, 76.
Ancona, 470.
Andalusia, 71, 76.
Andermat, 233, 384, 463.
Andernach, 385.
Andes, 17, 466.
Anesel, 93.
Aney River, 197.
Angle, 177.
Anguilla, 470.
Anna River, 27.
Annam, 463.
Annandale, 160.
Annapolis, 27.
Anne River, 197.
Antakieh, 317.
Antibes, 3&4-
Antilibanus, 463.
Anton River,. 197,
Antwerp, 393.
Anxiety Point, 34.
Aosta, 317, 385.
Aoust, 317, 385.
Apennines, 219, 474.
ApoUonia, 335.
Apollonis, 334.
Appleby, 367, 468.
Appledore, 350, 367.
Appledurcombe, 227,
367.
Applegarth, 367.
Applethwaite, 367.
Appleton, 120, 468.
Aquitania, 56.
Aradus, 7.
Aral, 67.
Arar River, 216.
Ararar River, 217.
Arl)ela, 93, 377.
Arbengo, 147.
Arbroath, 246.
Arc River, 217.
Archangel, 343.
Ardagh, 226.
Arden, 226.
Arden, Forest, 362.
Ardennes, 226, 361.
Ardetz, 50.
Ardfert, 226.
Ardfinnan, 341.
Ardglass, 226.
Ardingley, 128.
Ardington, 128.
Ardnamurchar, 226.
Ardrossan, 225, 226.
Ards, 226.
Ardwick le Street, 251.
Are River, 216, 217.
Argam, 138.
Argentine Republic, 54.
Argos, 377.
Aigyle, 65, 86, 463.
Arkansas, 17.
Arkos, 97.
Arlberg, 467.
Aries, 86, 227, 463.
Arley, 467. '
Armagh, 86, 232.
Armeanagh, 226.
Armenia, 67.
Armorica, 63, 86, 463.
Amesthing, 294.
Arram, 138.
Arran, 226.
Arras, 229, 585, 423.
Arrecife, 108.
Arre River, 216.
Arro River, 216.
Arrow River, 216.
Artois, 71, 229.
Arundel, 160.
Arve River, 216.
Arveiron River, 216.
Arw River, 216.
Asbeach, 354.
L L 2
Ascension, 13.
Ascurum, 94.
Asgarby, 126.
Asgardby, 167, 328.
Ash River, 203.
Ashbourne, 211.
Ashby, 158, 167.
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 191.
Ashford, 254.
Ashley River, 26.
Ashton, 468.
Asia, 53, 77.
Asia Minor, 78.
Asse River, 204*
Asta, 239, 240.
Asteguieta, 239.
Asti, 411.
Astigarraga, 239.
Astobiza, 239.
Aston-Canteloupe, 191.
Astorga, 239.
Astulez, 239.
Asturia, 239, 240.
Atford, 384, 463.
Athelney, 140,147,351.
Athens, 335.
Athos, 84.
Atrecht, 385.
Atri, 357.
Attica, 84.
Attlebury, 312.
Auch, 318, 385.
Auckland, 35, 468.
Augia, 317.
Augsburg, 317, 385.
Augst, 317, 385.
Aulne River, 215.
Aune River, 197.
Auney River, 197.
Auppegard, 185.
Ausocurro, 94.
Aust, 318, 385.
Austin friars, 280.
Austria, 463.
Autun, 222, 317, 385.
Auveme, 226.
Avalon, 367, 468.
Aven River, 197, 198.
Avenbanna iGver, 197,
215.
Avenbui River, 197.
Avenmore River, 197.
Digitized
by Google
5i6
Index /. — Local Names,
Avengorm River, 197.
Avemus Lake, 394.
A via River, 199.
Avon Rivers, 196, 197,
19S.
Avono River, 199.
Avranches, 245.
Awe River, 197.
Axams, 50.
Axe River, 203, 205.
Axelholme, 354.
Axholme, 354.
Axminster, 345.
Aylesbere, 179.
Aylesbuiy, 328.
Aylesford, 254, 328.
Ayktone, 328.
Ayr River, 216.
Aysgarth, 328.
Aystrope, 168.
Aysworth, 328.
Azores, 467.
Baalbec, 97, 334.
Baal Hills, 325.
Bab-el- Mandeb, 470.
Back Brook, 174.
Bactria, 76.
Badajoz,3i7,385.
Baden, 74, 151, 465.
Badshot, 360.
Baesippo, 96.
Baffin's Bay, 19.
Bagshot, 360, 368, 467.
Bahia, 30.
Bain River, 215.
Bakewell, 381, 465.
Balaclava, 469.
Balcon Lane, 273.
Balderby, 325.
Balderton, 325.
Bale, 470.
Balearic Isles, 81, 96.
Baleby, 172.
Balerium, 325.
Balfrain, 114.
Ballybegg, 462,
Balmaghie, 460.
Baltimore, 26.
Bamborough, 312.
Bampton, 381.
Bana River, 215.
Banda Oiiental, 54.
Bandribosc, 188.
Bane River, 215.
Banlas, 334.
Bann River, 215.
Banningham, 128.
Banon River, 197, 215.
Bantam, 414.
Barbadoes, 467.
Barbary, 396.
Barbican, 273.
Barbuda, 467.
Barcelona, 97.
Barfleur, 187.
Barfreestone, 382.
Barking, 125.
Barlinghem, 151.
Barmouth, 245, 388.
Barnby, 165.
Bameyhouse,. 1 74.
Barnstaple, 374.
Bamston, 175.
Bamstrup, 158.
Bamwood, 368.
Barry, 176.
Barton, 120.
Basing, 129.
Basingstoke, 121.
Bass' Straits, 33.
Basta, 240.
Batavia, 31, 85.
Bath, 465.
Bathurst, 35.
Batle Hill, 304.
Battersea, 280, 399.
Battle, 7, 301.
Battlebridge, 303.
Battlebury, 304.
Battledikes, 304.
Battlefield, 300.
Battleflats, 7, 301.
Battlesbury, 304.
Battleswicl^ 164.
Battlewic, 304.
Baune River, 215.
Bavaria, 68, 72.
Bavay, 385.
Bavcnt, 355.
Bay of Mercy, 34.
Bayswater, 278.
Beachy Head, 390.
Beacon Hill, 372.
Beaminster, 345.
Bear, 179.
Beara, 179.
Beardon, 179.
Bearon, 179.
Beauchamp-Otton, 191.
Beaulieu, 191.
Beaumanoir, 190.
Beaumont, 190.
Bebra, 369.
Beddgelert, 339.
Bedford, 243, 254, 313.
Bedis, 93.
Bedminster, 345.
Beelow, 472.
Beer, 180.
Beer Alston, 179.
Beer Ferrers, 1 79.
Behring*s Straits, 33.
Beja, 318, 385.
Belan, 325.
Belan Bank, 325.
Belch, 325.
Belgrade, 472,
Belippo, 96.
Bellecombe, 227.
Bell HUl, 325.
Belon, 96.
Belting, 128.
Bel Tor, 325.
Belvoir, 19a
Benadadid, 107.
Benarraba, 107.
Benavites, 107.
Bencruachan, 22a
Benevento, 231.
Bengorm, 472.
Beniajar, 107.
Beniaux, 107.
Benicalaf, 107.
Benjerlaw, 212.
Benledi, 220.
Benlomond, 22a '
Benmore, 220^ 462.
Ben Nevis, 5, 220, 474.
Ben River, 215.
Bentarique, 107.
BenWyvis, 210.
Bere Regis, 180.
BerewocS, i8a
Digitized
by Google
Index I, — Local Names.
517
Bergamo, I2j.
Berkeley, 468.
Berlingas Islands, 188.
Berlinghen, 151.
Bennondsey, 280, 348.
Bermudas, 29.
Beme, 74, 467.
Berquetot, 185.
Berwick, 162, 169, 180,
Bessingham, 147, 151.
Bethany, 486.
Bethel,3, 331, 486.
Bethlehem, 3, 486.
Bethsaida, 9a
Beth Tapuah, 469.
Bcvercoates, 369.
Beverley, 369, 467.
Beverstone, 369.
Bewley, ^90.
Beyrout, 482.
Bezingham, 151.
Bihersburg, 369.
Bibracte, 369.
Bibrax, 369.
Biddenham,i24.
Bideford, 179.
Bidis, 93.
Bielawa, 472.
Bielouka, 474.
Biere, He de, 189.
Bierlingen, 151.
Biivre, 369
Billinge, 129.
Billingham, 129.
Billinghurst, 129, 36 1.
Billingley, 129.
Billington, 129.
BUlingsgate, 129, 275,
450.
Billockby, 166.
Bingen, 152.
Birbeck, 468.
Bircholt, 468.
Birkenhead, 175.
Biriing, 151.
Birlingham, 151.
Birmingham, 125.
Bimw(^, 224.
Bishopsgate, 252, 272.
Bishopsley, 345,
Bishops Stortford, 345.
Bissmgen, 151.
Bitiirgia, 240.
Biverbike, 369.
Black Forest, 362.
Blackfriars, 281.
Blackheath, 386, 472.
Blake Chesters, 258.
Blakeley, 472.
Blancnez, Cape, 471.
Blaskogiheidiy 359.
Blauvelt, 28.
Blauwberg, 28.
Bledloe, 302.
Blentam, 482.
Blisadona, 50.
Bloodgate, 304.
Bloody Brook, 17.
Bloody Fold, 301.
Bloody Stripe, 304.
Bloomsbury, 399.
Blowick, 174.
Blnnham, 124.
Bober River, 369.
Bobem, 369.
Boberow, 369.
Bobersburg, 369.
Boberwitz, 369.
Bobrao, 369.
Boca Chica, 462.
Bochampton, 364.
Bochingen, 157.
Bocking, 151.
Bodmin, 229, 485.
Bohemia, 71.
Bokerly Ditch, 257,
Bolbec, 187.
Bolengo, 147.
Bolingbroke, 147.
Bolivia, 74.
BoUeit, 300-
Bologna, 72.
Bolton-le-Moor, 190,
Bombay, 31, 469.
Bomlitz River, 44.
Boothia Felix, 35.
Bordeaux, 72, 411.
Bomeville, 185.
Bomum, 123.
Bosa, 93.
Boscawen, 485.
Boston, 16, 381.
Bosworth, 122.
Botle Hill, 304.
Bouquinghem, 151.
Bouroon, 72.
Bovanium, 72.
Bovengo, 147.
Bovinp^ton, 147.
Bovy m Beer, i8a
Bowness, 174.
Bozra, 392.
Brabant, 85.
Brading, 125.
Bradley, 462.
Bradney, 351.
Bradshaw, 462.
Bradwell, 159,
Bragan^a, 30.
Braintree, 224,
Bramerton, 312.
Bramshot, 360.
Brancaster, 223, 224.
Brandenburgh, 224.
Brandon, 224.
Bmnnberg, 224.
Braslaf, 468.
Bray, 73.
Brazil, 408, 469.
Breandown, 224.
Breidafiord, 172.
Breitwil, 159.
Brendenkopf, 224.
Brendon, 224.
Brenner, 224.
Brentingley, 128.
Brent Tor, 225.
Brescia, 468.
Bretha River, 174.
Breton Cape, 25.
Breuil, 359.
Bricquebosq, 188.
Bridewell, 279.
Bridgewater, 390.
Briggate, 252.
Brighton, 380.
Brindon Hill, 212.
Briquebec, 187.
Brisbane, 35.
Bristol, 254.
Britain, Great, 54.
Brixton, 254, 380.
Broadford, 172.
Brodswinden, 43.
Brogden, 368.
Digitized
by Google
5i8
Index L — Local Names,
Broglio, 359.
BrokcHborough, 467.
Brolo, 359.
Bromley, 468.
Brooklandy 350.
Brooklyn, 27.
Brora, 170.
Brother Hill, 177.
Brough, 123.
Broughton, 123.
Brown Willy, 388.
Broxboume, 368, 467.
Brunswick, 74.
Bruquedalle, 188.
Brussels, 468.
Buccina, 93.
Buckenham, 312.
BuckhuTst, 468.
Buckingham, 125.
Buckland Monachorum,
.346.
Bucklersbury, 282.
Buckston, 177.
Buda, 485.
Budge Row, 278.
Buenos Ayres, 469.
Buers, 179.
Bui How, 175.
Bungay, 390, 469.
Burengaren, 390.
Bures, 179, 186.
Burgh, 258.
Burghclere, 486.
Burgos, 123, 148.
Burgundy, 71, 410.
Bum, 179.
Burrafiord, 170.
Burry Holmes, 177.
Burton, 120.
Bury-Pommeroye, 191.
Buttemll, 174.
Butterhill, 174, 177.
Butterlip How, 175.
Buttermere, 174.
Byestock, 179.
Byflect, 481.
Byzantium, 433.
Cabala, 93.
Cabo dc BonaEsperanza,
31.
Cabool, 74.
Cabo Tormentoso, 31.
Cadara, loi.
Cadbeeston, 362.
Cadbury, 304.
Cadiz, 91, 95.
Cadoxton, 340.
Caen, 141.
Caergybi, 341.
Caerleon, 249, 263.
Caermote, 291.
Caerwent, 231.
Caesar's Camp, 314.
Cagliari, 92.
Caig stone, 305.
Cairngorm, 477.
Cairo, 470.
Caithness, 163.
Calahorra, 107.
Calais, 64,
Calamonaci, loo.
Calasca, 112.
Calascibetta, 100.
Calata, 65.
Calatabiano, 1 00.
Calatafimi, icx>.
Calatagirone, 100.
Calatamisetta, icx>.
Calatavutura, joo.
Calatayud, 107.
Calatrava, 107.
Calcutta, 334.
Calda River, 174.
Caldicot, 256.
Caldy, 176.
Caledonia, 65.
Calf of Man, 386.
Calf, The, 173.
Calicut, 334.
Calliste, 470.
Calotabalotta, lOO.
Caltanisetta, 100.
Caltrop, 470.
Cam River, 217.
Camaroons, 467.
Cambeck River, 217.
Cambrai, 71.
Cambray, 385, 422.
Cambria, 71, 84.
Cambridge, 254.
Cambrilla, 71.
Camden, 217.
Camil River, 217.
Camlad River, 217.
Camlin River, 217.
Camon River, 217.
CamphiU, 303,
Campton, 305.
Cana, 469.
Canada, 17, 400.
Canary, 410, 414, 467.
Candahar, 316.
Candy Slack, 390.
Canewdon, 303.
Cannon Street, 399.
Canonbury, 280,
Canongate, 2^2.
Canterbuiy, ^ 308.
Can tire, 221.
Capel Cung, 346.
Capo di Faro, 361.
Caradoc, 31 4.
Caralis, 94.
Carbia, 92.
Cardross, 225.
Carepula, 94.
Carinthia, 84.
Carisbrook, 69, 307,
381.
Carlingford, i6r, 181.
Carlisle, 227, 243.
Carlsruhe, 319.
Carl ton-Col vile, 191.
Carmarthen, 223..
Camchainichin, 315.
Camic Alps, 225.
Carolina, 7, 26.
Caroline Islands, 29.
Carpathians, 84, 475.
Carpentaria, Gulf, 32.
Carpi, 94.
Carquebuf, 186.
CarrickfergTis, 225, 477.
Carrowburgh, 255^.
Carteja, 95.
Carthage, 94, 486.
Carthagena, 7, 95.
Cartili, 94.
Cashiobury, 73.
Cassaro, loi.
Castalo, 97.
Castansea, 404.
Castel Muro, 115.
Castile, 263.
Digitized
by Google
Index L — Local Names,
519
Castlegate, 252.
Castor, 260.
Catalamita, 100.
Catalonia, 71.
Catania, 93.
Caterham, 252, 304.
Caterthun, 305.
Catlow, 362.
Cat Street, 308.
Cattegat, 25a.
Catt Stane, 305.
Caucasus, 5, 474.
Caudebec, 187.
Causewell, 168.
Cayenne, 408.
Cefii Bryn, 219.
Cefh Coed, 219.
Cenis, Mont, 221.
Cerasus, 403.
Certima, 97.
Cevennes (les), 219.
Chablis, 410.
Chadra, loi.
Champagne, 410.
Cbamplain, Lake, 25.
Cham River, 217.
Chapmanslade, 374.
Charford, 311.
Charing, 275.
Charles, Cape, 22, 38.
Charleston, 26.
Charlinch, 351.
Charmis, 93.
Charter-house, 280, 399.
Chart Sutton, 360.
Chatham Island, 35.
Chat Moss, 362.
Cheapside, 282, 373.
Chedzoy, 352.
Chee Tor, 225.
Chelmsford, 243, 254.
Chelsea, 280, 348.
Cheping Hill, 373.
Chepstow, 373.
Cherbourg, 123, 317.
Cherokee, 17.
Cher River, 218.
Cherry Hinton, 468.
Chertsey, 348.
Chester, 249.
Chesterton, 260.
Chesterholm, 258.
Chester le Street, 190,
251.
Chevening, 219.
Chevin, 219.
Chevington, 219.
Cheviot Hills, 219, 448.
Chevy Chase, 219, 448.
Chichester, 311.
Chien Cape, 219.
Chilham, 314.
ChUi, 4oi8.
Chillesford, 1 61, 165.
China, 75.
Chingford, 254.
Chipping Bamet, 373.
Chipping Camden, 373,
Chippingham, 373.
Chipping Norton, 373.
Chipping Ongar, 373.
Chipping Sodbury, 373.
Chisbury, 311.
Chiselet, 349.
Chiselhurst, 360.
Chiswill, 168.
Christiana, 319.
Christiansand, 319.
Christianstad, 319.
Church Moor, 364.
Church Walk, 364.
Chynoweth, 229.
CimadelMoro, 112.
Cinderford, 370.
Cinderhill, 370.
Cinici, 96.
Cirencester, 382.
Cirta, 94.
Cissanham, 311.
Cissbury, 311.
Civita Vecchia, 464.
Clapharo, 308, 460.
Clare, 191.
Clarendon, 223.
Classe, 357.
Claverack,,28.
Claxby, 167.
ClerkenwelJ, 279.
Clinton, 462.
Clippesby, 166.
Clitourps, 186.
Clitumnus River, 217.
Clobesden Gut, 253.
Cloyd River, 217.
Cludan River, 217.
Clwydlliver, 217.
Clydach River, 217.
Clyde River, 217.
Cnut's Dyke, 257.
Coblentz, 383.
Cockthorpe, 168.
Coimbra, 71.
Coitmore, 362.
Colbv, 172.
Colchester, 262.
Col de Maure, 1 10.
Cold Harbour, 256, 470.
Coleridge, 470
Colincthun, 119.
Colne River, 218^ 262.
Cologne, 262.
Colomby, 180.
Colonna, Cape, 371.
Colonsay, 338.
Colton, 470.
Columbia, 11.
Columbus, II.
Comarques, 265.
Combe, 227.
Combe Martin, 226.
Comberbatch, 159.
Como, 227.
Compton Bay, 227.
Concord, 15.
Coningsby, 298.
Connecticut, 17.
Connington, 147.
Constance, 318.
Constantinch, 318.
Constantinople, 319, 386.
Constanz, 386.
Contrebia, 228.
Conz, 318, 385.
Cooper River, 26.
Copeland Islands, 374.
Copenhagen, 373.
Copland Island, 181.
Copmansthorpe. 1 58, 374.
Cordova, 96, 421.
Corinth, 407, 444.
Comus, 92.
Cornwall, 267.
Corsica, 86, 93,
Cortono, 377.
Corunna, Cape, 372.
C6tanti]i, 318, 386.
Digitized
by Google
520
Index I. — Local Names,
Cots wold Hills, 362.
Cottun, 141.
Courtray, 385.
Coutances, 318, 385.
Covency, 354.
Covent Garden, 280.
Cowgate, 252.
Cowick, 179.
Cowley, 466,
Cranboume, 368.
Cianfield, 368.
Crantock, 341.
Crathis, 93.
Cravatta, 270.
Creamston, 177.
Cressing Temple, 346.
Crib Goch, 472.
Crick, 225.
Cricklade, 225, 417.
Criquebof, 180.
Criquetot, 185.
Crodale, 188.
Croixdale, 188.
Crokem Tor, 292.
Cronkshynnagh, 369.
Crown Hill, 301.
Crutched Friars^ 281.
Cuba, 410.
Cuckfield, 361.
Cumberiand, 71,84, 267.
Cumbraylaland8,7i, 163.
Cummin's Camp, 315.
Cumnor, 310.
Cunning Garth, 390.
Cunusi, 93.
Cura, 94»
Curubis, 94.
Curum 94.
Cwm Bychan, 462.
Cv^taghara, 473.
Cydon, 405,
Dacorum Hundred, 168.
Dairan River, 199.
Dalby, 172.
Dale, 177.
Dalkeith, 160.
Dalkey Inland, 181.
Dalpool, 175.
Dairy, 315.
Dalrymple, 160.
Damascus, 376, 406,42a
Damme, 356.
Dampier Archip., 32.
Danby, 268.
Danderby, 167.
Danebury, 303.
Danefurlong, 168.
Dane River, 209.
Danesbanks, 303.
Danesend, 168.
Danesey Flats, 164.
Danesford, 303,
Danesgraves, 303.
Danestal, 188.
Danestream, 302.
Dantsey, 303.
Danube River, 197, 208.
Darling River, 35*.
Dametel, 188.
Dart River, 2<xx
Dartford, 254.
Ddubeuf, 186.
Dauphiny, 83.
Daventry, 231.
Davis' Straits, 19.
Davon River, 209.
Dax, 465,
Dead Man, 388.
Deadman's Place, 399.
Dead Sea, 394.
Dean River, 209.
Deargan River, 199.
Debir, 3.
Dee River, 197, 21 8.
Deeping, 463.
Deerhurst, 466.
Dekkan, The, 76, 463.
Delapre, 191.
Delaware, 26.
Delgado Cape, 31.
Delting, 295.
Denge Marsh Gut, 253.
Dengewell, 295.
Dengey, 164.
Denmark, 265.
Denney, 177.
Dennisinni, 102.
Dent du Midi, 474.
Depedal, 188.
Deptford, 161, 164.
Derby, 157, 177, 243,
362, 466.
Dereham, 466.
Derry, 7, 468.
Derventio, 200.
Derwent River, 20a
Desolation Cape, 19.
Detmold, 292.
Detroit, 25, 471.
Devil's Dyke, 257.
Devizes, 267.
Devon, 73, 267, 489.
Devon River, 209.
Dewerstone, 322.
Dibden, 463.
Dieppe, 186.
Dieppedal, 188.
Dietmale, 292.
Diggles River, 215.
Dili. 377.
Dingley, 297.
Dingwall, 295.
Dingwell, 179, 296.
Dinsdale, 297.
DistelAlp, 113.
Ditton, 256.
Djebel es Sheikh, 5, 473.
Dniester River, ao8.
Doab River, 196, 465.
Dodd FelU 478.
Doghouse Bar, 277.
Dominica, 13.
Dona, 27.
Don^al,.65.
Donnmgton, 147.
Don River, 20S, 209.
Dora River, 201.
Dorchester, 73, 20a
Dore River, 199.
Dorking, 125.
Domstadt, 222.
Doro River, 199.
Dorset, 69, 229.
Douglas, 472.
Douglas River, 215.
Douro River, 201.
Dour River, 199.
Donrwater, 211.
Dover, 138.
Dove River, 197.
Dovercourt, I3i
Dover River, 199.
Dovrefjeld, 138.
Douvres, 138^ 141.
Digitized
by Google
Index I. — Local Names.
521
Dowgate, 275.
Dowles River, 21$.
Drachenfels, 328, 477.
Drachenkaxnmer, 328.
Drepanum, 395.
Dreswick, 173.
Droitwich, 162, 170.
Dromore, 476.
Drontheim, 298.
Drumburgh, 258.
Dublin, 216, 472,
Dubrau, 468.
Duir River, 199.
Dulas River, 215.
Dumbarton, 223, 258.
Dumblane, 223.
Dumbuckhill, 258.
Dumfries, 223.
Dimimerwitz, 389.
Dumnailraise, 315.
Dunagoat, 388.
Dundalk, 223.
Dundee, 223.
Dundrum, 223, 476.
Dundry Hill, 223.
Dunestadt, 222.
Dungannon, 223.
Dungarvon, 223.
Dungeness, 176, 180, 350,
470.
Dunglas, 258.
Dunkeld, 223.
Dtmlavin, 223,
Dunleary, 223.
Dunmow, 223, 233.
Dun River, 209.
Dunstable, 223, 233, 374.
Dunwich, 165.
Durarwater River, 199.
Durbach, 211.
Durbeck, 211.
Durham, 381.
Durlock, 349.
Durra River, 199.
Dusseldorf, 15&
Dwajalagiri, 5, 473.
Dyrham, 466.
Eamont River, 174.
Ea River, 174.
Eamley, 467.
Easebnm, 211.
Eastbourne, 388.
Eastbury, 462.
Eastcheap, 282, 373.
Easterford, 326.
Easter, Gclod, 326.
Easter, High, 326.
Easterleake, 326.
Eastermear, 326.
Easthorpe, 462.
Eaton, 348.
Ebbfleet, 274, 349.
Ebro River, 490.
Eccles, 346.
Ecuador, 54, 79.
Eden River, 209.
Edgeware, 381.
Edinburgh, 312.
Edmun£thorp, 180.
Egilsa, 171.
Egypt, 79.
Ehen River, 197.
Ehrenbreitstein, 462.
Eigher, 474.
Eilum, 123.
Eisenberg, 370.
Eislingen, 151.
Ekaterinenburg, 319.
Elbadi, 36&
Elbe River, 215.
Elboeuf, 186.
Elisabethstadt, 46.
Elizabeth County, 22, 38.
El Khalil, 344.
£1 Lazarieh, 344.
EUee River, 215.
Ell&n River, 214.
Ellerton, 468.
Ellwangen, 369.
Elmdon, 468.
Elmswell, 468.
Elsass, 69.
Elstead, 311.
Elston, 464.
Elstrop, 168.
Elton, 464.
Elwin River, 214.
Ely, 354. 467.
Emboli, 384.
Enderby, 167,
England, 70.
Englishbatch, 265.
Englishcombe, 265.
Enhallow, 337.
Ennerdale, 174.
En Rimmon, 469.
Enterprise, Fort, 34.
Epegard, 185.
Ephesus, 77.
Ephratah, 3.
Eppinghofen, 152.
Epsom, 381, 4^8.
Erebus, Mount, 35.
Erie, 17.
Erin, 68.
Erith, 354.
Ermin Street, 251.
Erpingham, 147.
Erringham, 128.
Errington, 129.
Erve River, 216.
Eryn River, 207.
Erzeroum, 73.
Erzgeberge, 370.
Esca River, 204.
Escalona, 95.
Escoves, 188.
Escurial, 452.
Esk River, 203.
Esker River, 203.
Eskilstuna, 119.
Eskle River, 203.
Esk water, 211.
Esky River, 203.
Eslinghen, 151.
Esque River, 204.
Essex, 268, 462.
Este, 357.
Etainhus, 141.
Eteples, 374.
Etna, 93. 358.
Eton, 348.
Etreham, 141.
Etsch River, 383.
Eubcea, 85.
Europe, 76.
Evan River, 197.
Eveneny River, 197.
Evershaw, 368.
Evershot, 368, 466.
Eversley, 368, 4J66.
Everton, 368.
Evora, 97.
Ewenny River, 197.
Digitized
by Google
522
Index /.• — Local Names.
Ewes River, 203.
Ewshot, 360.
Exe River, 203.
Exeter, 243, 261.
Ex River, 203.
Exwick, 179.
Eye, I73» 354, 483.
Eyen, 113.
Facomb, 227.
Faenza, 470.
Fairfield, 350, 466.
Falaise, 186.
Famham, 468.
Faro, Capo di, 371.
Faroe Islands, 163, 171,
466.
Farringdon, 223.
Faulhorn, 474.
Faxa Fiord, 161.
Fear, Cape, 18.
Feasegate, 252.
Fee, 114.
Felibedjik, 317.
Felicudi, 91,
Felmersham, 124.
Fenwick Rock, 176.
Ferrara, 384.
Feurs, 384.
Fiamma, 384.
Fife, 86.
Filby, 166.
Finedon, 297.
Finmark, 266.
Finsbury, 273.
Finsthwaite, 268.
Finster-aar-hom, 387.
Fiora, 318, 384.
Fiquefleur, 187.
Firenze, 383, 470.
Fishergate, 252.
Fishguard, 177.
Fisigard, 185.
Fitful Head, 389.
Fiume della Fine, 267.
Flamandville, 271.
Flamborough Head, 372.
Flanders, 79.
Flash, 450.
Fldtholme, 163, 177.
Fleckeroe, 165.
Fleckney, 165.
Fleet, 274.
FlegK, 165.
Flekkesfjord, 165.
Flemingsby, 268.
Flemingston, 178.
Flemington, 192.
Fleswidc, 173.
Florence, 433, 470.
Florida, 13, 25, 387.
Flushing, 28.
Fond du Lac, 25.
Fontambie, no.
Forcassi, 384.
Fordongianus, 384.
Fordwick, 349.
Foreness, 164.
ForSt des Maures, no.
Forli, 318, 383.
Forlimpopoli, 384.
Formosa, 31, 469.
Fomovo, 384.
Fort Enterprise, 34.
Fort Orange, 27.
Fort Providence, 34.
Fossombrone, 383.
Fossway, The, 251.
Foulbec, 187.
Foulbeck, 466.
Foulness, 164.
Foulney, 174.
Foxhill, 466.
Foxley, 466.
Fraisthorpe, 312.
France, 70.
France, Isle of, 71.
Tranche Comt^ 71.
Franconia, 71, 149.
Frankby, 175, 268.
Franken, 71, 149.
Frankenbergj 270.
Frankenfeld, 270.
Frankenthal, 271.
Frankfurt, 271.
Frathorpe, 322.
Freasley, 322.
Fredenberg, ^8.
Frederick City, 27.
Fredericksburg, 27.
Fr^jus, 318, 383, 385.
Freudenbach, 389.
Freystrop, 177.
Friday-street, 322.
Fridaythorpe, 322.
Friedrichshafen, 319.
Frieston, 268.
Frisby, ^68.
Frisroersk, 139.
Fritham, 364.
Friuli, 318, 383, 385.
Frobisher Strait, f 8.
Frome River, 218.
Frotuna, 119.
FuUetby, 167.
Funen, 469.
Fumess, 174, 372.
Fur Tor, 225.
Fury Beach, 34, 35.
Galapagos, 467.
Galata, 65, loa
Galatia, 65.
Gahcia, 6^.
Galway, 05.
Gallipoli, 384.
Galloway, 65, 416.
Gara River, 214.
Garbo, 103.
Gareloch River, 214.
Gamar River, 214.
Garnere River, 214.
Garonne River, 196, 114.
Garra, 94.
Garry River, 196, 214.
Garve River, 214.
Garway River, 314.
Garwick, 173,
Gatcombe, 227, 252,
Gateholm, 177.
Gatesgarth, 174.
Gatesgill, 174.
Gateshead, 253, 3S5.
Gateswater, 174.
Gatton, 25a.
Gaza, 376, 420.
Gazzi, loi.
Gebei, 100.
Gebel Fiel, 393.
Gebel Oomar, 103.
Gellstone, 174.
Gellyswick, 176.
Geneva, 221.
Gennesareth, 469.
Georgia, 7, 27,
Digitized
by Google
Index I. — Local Nximes.
523
Germany, 60.
Gers River, 214.
Geysers, 465.
Ghuzzeh, 377.
Gibeah, 475.
Gibel el Faro, 371.
Gibellina, icx>.
Gibraltar, 104, 315.
Gillies Hill, 301.
Giron River, 214.
Glamorgan, 86.
Glarus, 342.
Glaslln, 216.
Glenmore, 462.
Glen River, 218.
Glogau, 222.
Gloucester, 243, 382.
Glyde River, 217.
Gniva, 5a
Godarville, 185.
Godington, 120.
Godley, 336.
Gk>dmanchester, 336.
Godmanstone, 336.
Godney, 336, 351.
Godramgate, 252.
Godrano, loi.
Godshill, 336.
Godstone, 252, 336.
Godstow, 336.
Goello, 65.
Goldberg, 370.
Gold Goast, 466.
Gomfreston, 177.
Gomphi, 471.
Goroshall, 227.
Gonengo, 147.
Good Easter, 326.
Goodgrave, 302.
Good Hope, Cape of, 31.
Goodmanham, 335.
Gorlitz, 476.
Gothland Island, 71.
Gracechurch-street, 399.
Gracedieu, 191.
Graian Alps, 225.
Grammercy-sqnare, 399.
Grampound, 390, 462.
Granville, 462.
Grassholm, 177,
GravenhUl, 303.
Gravesend, 381.
Greasby, 175.
Great Britain, 54.
Great Chesters, 258.
Greece, 88.
Greenaby, 172.
Greenland, 10.
Greenwich, 164.
Greenwick, 173.
Grenivik, 164.
Grenoble, 318, 384.
Greta River, 174.
Grime's Dyke, 258.
Grimonville, 185.
Grimsby, 126, 157, 178,
460.
Grim*s Dyke, 257.
Grinez, Cape, 163, 188,
470.
Grinnell Land, 35.
Groote Eylandt, 32.
Guadaira, 107.
Guadaladiar, 106.
Guadalaviar, co6.
Guadalaxara, 106.
Guadalbanar, 107.
Guadalcazar, 106.
Guadalertin, 107.
Guadalete, 107.
Guadalhorra, 106.
Guadalimar, 106.
Guadalquiton, 106.
Guadalquiver, 106, 462.
Guadalupe, 106.
Gttadarama, 106.
GuadarnCnke, 106.
Guadiana, 97, 107, 199.
Gualbacar, 106.
Guaroman, 106.
Guernsey, 317.
Guer River, 214.
Guiidaun, 50.
Gulistan, 469.
Guilford, 254.
Gutter Lane, 399.
Gweek, 179.
Gwent, 231.
Haarlem River, 28.
Hackney, 351.
Haconby, 126.
Haconville^ 159, 185.
Hacqueville, 185.
Haddington, 125.
Haemus, 5, 473.
Hafnafiord, 161.
Hagiar Chem, 94.
Hagnaby, 167.
Hague, The, 122.
Haiti, 378.
Hal. 371.
Halen, 371.
Halifiuc, 26.
Haling, 370.
Hall, 371.
Hallaton, 371.
Halle, 371.
Hallein, 371.
Hallstadt, 371.
Hallthwaite, 174,
Halsal, 371.
Halstocic, 313.
Halton, 371.
Halton Chesters 258.
Halycus River, 371.
Halys River, 371/
Hamath, 2, 376.
Hambye, 14 1, 186.
Hamnavoe, 17a
Hampton Court, 190.
Hampton in Arden, 362.
Hamsey, 351.
Ham Tor, yi^,
Hamwell, 165.
Hanenkamm, 328.
Hangman's Gains, 398.
Hanover, 74.
Hanse Towns, 373.
Hapsburg, 467.
Hardivilliers, 159.
Hare Tor, 225.
Hareby, 167.
Harfleur, 187.
Harling, 127.
Harlington, 127.
Harmstone, 313.
Haroldston, 177.
Harrowgate, 252.
Harris, 172.
Hartz Mountains, 360.
Harwich, 165.
Hasguard, 177.
Hasumere, 468.
Hastingleigl^ 128.
Digitized
by Google
524
Index L — Local Names.
Hastings, 125, 128, 129.
Hastingues, 189.
Hautot, 185.
Havannah, 41a
Haverford, 161, 176.
Haveistraw^ 28.
Havre, 187.
Hawks^trell, 164.
Haxey, 355.
Haye Park, 122.
Haystacks, The, 174.
Hayti, 17.
Hazor, 487.
Hcaley, 327.
Healigh, 327.
Hearston, 177.
Hebron, 3, 376.
Hecla, 405.
Heidenbcrg, 328.
Helagh, 327.
Helford, 179.
Heligoland, 332.
Helsington, 128.
Hellathyme, 327.
Hellifield, 313, 327.
Helluland it mikla, 10.
Helluland, Litla, 10.
Helwell, 327.
Hclwick, 176.
Helwith, 327.
Hemingby, 167.
Hemsby, 166.
Hendon, 470.
Hengeston, 310.
Hengistbury Head, 309.
Henley, 351, 470.
Henley in Arden, 362.
Henry, Cape, 22.
Henstridge, 31a
Hentoe, 225.
Heradeia, 334.
Heracleopolis, 334.
Herat, 67.
Herbrandston, 178.
Herculaneum, 334.
Hercynian Forest, 36a
Hereford, 254, 268.
Hermannstadt, 46.
Hermanville, 14 1«
Hermon, 475.
Herouville, 185.
Herringby,
\ 185.
, 166.
Hertford, 213, 254, 466.
Hessary Tor, 225, 336.
Hesse, 71.
Hestoe, 171.
Heuland, 141.
Heurtley, 466.
Heythrop, 168.
Hey Tor, 225.
Highclere, 190.
Highgate, 252, 463.
High Easter, 326.
High-street, 251, 463.
Hildersham, 313.
HiU BeU, 325.
Himalaya, 5, 473.
Himawat, 473.
Hingeston, 310.
Hinkley, 310.
Hinksey, 310.
Hinton, 364, 463.
Hinxworth, 310.
Hippo, 91, 93, 96, 487.
Hoboken, 16.
Hoc, Cape, 188.
Hocheim, 412.
Hode, Cape le, 188.
Hoff, 331.
Hofirue, Cape de la,
Holbeacb, 354.
Holbom, 277.
Holdemess, 138.
Holland, 85.
HoUoway, 463.
Hollym, 138.
Holm, 173.
Holme, 175.
Holme, East, i8a
Holmes Islands, 165.
Holmin Island, 213.
Holmsdale, 180.
Holmstone, 180.
Holstein, 69, 359.
Holt, 359.
Holtford, 359.
Holtnip. 158.
Holy Hill, 332-
Holy Island, 332.
Holywell, 33*.
Honey Hill, 177.
Honfleur, 187.
Hor, Mount, 475.
Hoom, or Horn, Cape,
28,386.
Horsehay, 122.
Horseley, 31a
Horsey, 351.
Horsey Hill, 309.
Horsted, 309.
Houlbec, 187.
Homidbere, 179.
Homidsditch, 273.
How Rock, 178.
Howside, 175.
Howth, Hill of, 181.
Hucking, 128.
Hudson's Bay, 20.
Hudson's Strait, 20.
H umber River, 246.
Hungary, 68, 71.
Hungerford, 389.
Hunhart, 360.
Hunnum, 969.
Hunstanton, 269.
Huntingdon, 223.
Huron, 17.
Hursley, 31a
Hurstcourtray, 191.
Hurstmonceaux, 191.
Hurstpierpoint, 191.
Hvalfiord, 161.
Hvita, 472.
Hythe, 351.
Hythe, West, 351.
Iberia, 67.
Ibthrop, 180.
Ickborougfa, 73.
Icklins^ham, 12)8.
Icknidd Street, 25a'
Icolmkai, 338.
Idalia, 92.
Idino, 322.
Iffley, 348.
Iken, 73.
Hen River, 214.
Ilford, 254.
Ilfracombe, 227.
Illinois, 17, 382,
Illston, 341.
Iluria, 239.
Imaus, 473.
Imgrund, 463.
Digitized
by Google
Index I. — Local Names.
52s
Inchcolm, 338.!
Inches, 352.
Inch Island, 213.
Inchmartin, 35a.
Inchmichael, 353.
Inchture, 352.
Inchtuthill, 353.
Inchyra, 353.
India, 8a
Inglebarrow, 123.
InKliston, 192.
Inkpen, 220.
Ini^allan, 341.
Inney River, 197.
Inn River, 197.
Inver, 246.
Invermore, 246.
Inycon, 93.
lona, i63» 338.
Ipswich, 165.
Iran, 67.
Irby, 175.
Ireland, 67, 463.
Ireland's Eye, 181, 386.
Irippo, 96.
Irke River, 218.
Isboume, 211.
Iscanderieh, 316.
Ise River, 203, 205.
Isis River, 203.
Iskendcroon, 316.
Isle of France, 71.
Isle River, 203.
Islinghem, 151.
Islington, I2J, 151.
Istamboul, 304.
Istria, 205.
Italy, 53, 87.
Itucci, 318.
Iturissa, Q39.
Ive River, 197.
Ivi9a 96.
Ivory Coast, 466.
Ivychnrch, 350.
Iz River, 203.
James River, 22, 38,
Jameston, 178.
tamna, 96.
Janeiro, 13.
Jan Meyen's Island, 33.
^ava, 469.
lazi, 114.
kdburgh, 123, 445.
'efFreyston, 178.
^epan, 76.
fersey, 317.
erusalem, 392.
[ervis Gut, 253.
ohnston, 178.
ones' Sound, 19, 35.
[onkoping, 373.
oppa, 469.
ordan, 92.
orveaux, 191.
uan Fernandez, 29.
ubbergate, 252.
ubleins, 112,
rulaber*s Grave, 314.
iilich, or Juliers, 318,
Jungfrau, 474.
Jurby, 172.
Jiiterboffk, 333.
Jutland, 71, 386.
Kaisariyeh, 317.
Kammerstock, 221.
Kamor, 121.
Kamp River, 217.
Kam River, 217.
Kansas, 17.
Karavanken Alps, 225.
Katskill Mountains, 27.
Katzellenbogen, 153,271.
Kedron, 472.
Kempston, 305.
Kencomb, 221.
Kencot, 221.
Kendal, 160.
Keneth, 3.
Kenilworth, 122.
Kenmare, 221.
Kenmore, 221, 476.
Kenne, 221.
Kennedon, 221.
Ken River, 218.
Kensington, 125, 460.
Kent, 221, 268, 476.
Kenton, 221.
Keigu^Uen's Land, 33,
Kesri, 317.
Keswick, 174.
Kettering, 125.
Kettlewell, 159, 168,
Keynor, 310.
Keynton, 219.
Khamburg, 222.
Khelat, 65, 100.
Kibotus, 189.
Kidderminster, 345.
Kiel, 373.
Kielerjfiord, 373.
Kilbar, 341.
Kilbum, 278.
Kildare, 468.
Kilkerran, 339.
Kilkiaran, 339,
Killaloe, 341.
Kilmore, 462.
Killdanes, 303.
Killin, 215.
Kinderhook, 28.
King Edward, 388.
Kingsbury Episcopi, 346.
King's County, 7.
King's Gate, 252, 298.
King's Lynn, 216, 299.
Kingston, 298.
Kingston-upon-Hull, 298*
Kinloch Ewe, 353.
Kinnaird, 221.
Kinross, 221, 225.
Kinsale, 221.
Kinsey, 256.
Kinton, 466.
Kirby, 157, 167,172,175,
337.
Kirby Thore, 324.
Kirchditmold, 292.
Kirjath, 94.
Kirjath Arba, 3.
Kirjath Sepher, 3.
Kirkcolm, 338.
Kirkcudbright, 341, 387.
Kirksate, 252.
Kirklands, 346.
Kit's Coty House, 314.
Klagenfurt, 318, 384.
Klaussenberg, 46.
Klostersieben, 464.
Kloten, 262.
Knap Dane, 303.
Digitized
by Google
526
Index /. — Local Names.
Konigsberg, 298.
Kriegsmatten, 116.
Kronstadt, 46.
Kulm, 44.
Kupferhutte, 370.
Kustendje, 318.
Kynance, 229.
Laach, 227.
Labradori 10.
Laccadives, 465.
Lacippo, 96.
Lackford, 300.
La Crau, 225.
Lac St. Clair, 25.
Lac Superieur, 25.
Ladrones, 12, 467.
Lago Nuovo, 358.
La Houn deous Slourous,
iia
Lain River, 215.
La Marche, 266.
Lambay Island, 163, l8i.
Lamberhurst, 361.
Lambeth, 177, 279, 454.
Lamboum, 466.
Lambston, 177.
Lampsacus, 91.
Lanark, 229.
Lancashire, 74.
Lancaster, 214, 243.
Lancaster Sound, 19.
Lancing, 311.
Landbeach, 354.
Landemeau, 229.
Landes, The, 229.
Landivizian, 229.
Lane River, a 15.
Langabeer, 179.
Langavat, 172.
Langboume, 278.
I^ngeac, 229.
Langenhoe, 164.
Langetot, 185.
Langford, 178.
Langness, 173.
Lannion, 229.
Lanoe, 229.
Lanrick, 229.
Laon, 222.
La Penne, 219.
Lappmark, 266.
Larkbere, 179.
Latakia, 410.
La Tour des Maures, i la
La Tour sans Venin, 394.
Laughton en le Morthen,
190.
La Vendee, 231.
Lavin, 50.
Laxa River, 467.
Laxey River, 467.
Laxvoe, 170, 467.
Leach, 303.
Leadenhall, 399.
Leane River, 215.
Lea River, 218.
Lebanon, 5, 92, 473.
Lebena, 92.
Le Cauf, 188.
Leek ford, 300.
Leckhampstead, 300.
Ledjdn, 262.
Lee Beck, 164.
Legberthwaite, 297.
Legboum, 297.
Leghorn, 391.
Le Ham, 141.
Le Hamelet, 141.
\jt Houlme, 188.
Leicester, 262.
Leichfeld, 300.
Leighton Buzzard, 390.
Leinster, 182.
L«psig, 45i 468.
Leixlip, 181, 467.
Leommster, 345.
Leon, 262.
Lerwick, 170.
Les Cevennes, 219.
Les Dalles, 188.
LeTorp, 186.
Levant, 75.
Leven, Loch, 215.
' Leven River, 215.
Lewes, 351.
Leweston, 178.
Lewis, 171.
Lexdon, 222, 262.
Leyden, 222, 227.
Liberia, 54.
Libva, 78.
Lichfield, 300.
Lichmere, 311.
Lidcoping, 373.
Lid River, 21&
Liege, 383.
Liguria, 240.
Lillebonne, 318, 385.
Lilletot, 185.
Limerick, 181.
Lincoln, 215, 243, 162,
378, 481.
Lindebeuf, 186.
Lindfield, 361, 468.
Line River, ai$.
Linsholme, 163, 174.
Linlithgow, 216, 481.
Linton, 216.
Lisbon, 91, 96, 411.
Lisle, 355.
Lismore, 487.
Listowet 487.
Litla Helluland, la
Littlebury, 462.
Littleness, 173.
Littleton, 462.
Littlewick, 176.
Liza River, 174.
Lizard Point, 226.
Llanberis, 339.
Llanddewi Breli, 34a
Llandudno, 339.
Llanfrynach, 343.
Llangellcr, 339.
Llangollen, 339.
Llangybi, 341.
LUnilltyd, 341.
Llanos, The, 229.
Llyn yr Af range, 3691
Lobau, 45.
Loch Laxford, 170, 467.
Lockerbarrow, 174.
Lockerby, 174.
Lockholme, 174.
Lockthwaite, 174.
Lodi,3i8.
Lodomiria, 74.
Lodshot, 360.
Logberg, 294.
Loin River, 215.
Lombardy, 71.
London, 222, 243, 275,
377.
Londonderry, 7.
Digitized
by Google
Itidex I. — Local Names,
527
London, Street-names, of,
272.
Long Acre, 276.
Longbue, 186.
Lonsdale, i6a
Lorraine, 54, 74.
Lothbury, 283.
Loudon, 318, 385.
Loudun, 222.
Louisiana, 7, 25.
Louvre, 290.
Lowestoft, 165, 487.
Ludgate, 274.
Ludlow, 477.
Ludwigsburg, 319.
Ludwigshafen, 319.
Lund, 331.
Lundey, 331.
Lundgarth, 331.
Lundnolme, 331.
Lundy, 177.
Lune River, 214, 215.
Lunziesting, 295.
Lusby, 167.
Lusitania, 56.
Luttich, 383.
Luxembourg, 123.
Luxor, 384.
Luz, 3.
Lycia, 86.
Lycus, 396, 472.
Lymbach, 385.
Lyme Regis, 299.
Lymme, 350.'
Lyndhart, 360.
Lyndhurst, 360, 468.
Ljmn, 216.
Lynx Tor, 225.
Lyon, Loch, 215.
Lyon River, 215.
Lyons, 222, 227.
Macao, 31.
Maccheda, 101.
Macclesfield, 462.
Machenthal, 384.
Macopsisa, 92.
Macquarie, 35.
Mactorium, 93.
Madeira, 360, 410, 469.
Madulein, 115.
Maes Grttrmon, 232, 313.
Maestrecht, 385.
Magalhaens Straits, 28.
Magdebuig, 232, 389.
Mageroe, 163.
Maghera, 232.
Magnesia, 234, 417.
Mago, 96.
Magueda, 95.
Mahrattas, 81.
Maidenhead, 389.
Maidstone, 309.
Maine, 26, 230.
Maintz, 230, 385.
Maira, 1x5.
Majorca, 462.
Maiaca, 93.
Malaga, 91, 95, 411.
Malakoff, 289.
Maldives, 465.
Maldon, 223.
Mailing, 129.
Malpas, 190, 470.
Malta, 93.
Maltby, 166.
Mam Tor, 225.
Mancester, 230.
Mancha, La, 230.
Manchester, 230, 243.
Manilla, 410.
Man, Isle of, 230.
Mans, 230.
Mansfield, 230.
Manxes, 230.
Manzanares, 411.
Mantes, 230.
Mantua, 230.
Marazion, 97.
Marbach, 266.
Marbecq River, 266.
Marbceuf, 186.
Marbrook, 264.
Marbury, 264.
March, 265, 266.
Marchburg, 266.
March^, 266.
Marchiennes, 266.
Marchomley, 264.
Marck, 135, 266.
Marcomanni, 265.
Mardick, 266.
Maren^, 147.
Margarita, 467.
Margate, 252.
Marham, 265.
Mark, 265.
Mark Lane, 399.
Market Bosworth, 374.
Markland, 10.
Markley, 264.
Marlborough, 123, 392.
Marlow, 477.
Marquesas, The, 29.
Marrington, 147.
Marsa Fomo, 102.
Marsaba, 343.
Marsala, 100, 411.
Marsa Muscetto, 102.
Marsa Scala, 102.
Marsa Scirocco, 102.
Marsberg, 384.
Marston, 264.
Maryborough, 7,
Marygate, 252.
Maryland, 26.
Marylebone, 278.
Marzahna, 333.
Maserfield, 232.
Massachusetts, 10^ 1 7,
472.
Mathem, 233.
Matmark, 113.
Matterhom, 474.
Maupertuis, 302.
Mauretania, 56.
Maurienne, no.
Mauritius, 31.
Mausethurm, 394.
Maxstoke, 462.
Mayenne, 230.
Mayfair, 277.
Maynooth, 232.
May River, 318.
Mazara, 93.
Meander River, 450.
Meare, 352.
Mechlin, 423.
Mecklenburg, 74.
Mediccara, 94.
Medina, 107.
Medina Sidonia, 95, 107.
Medma, 93.
Medoc, 403, 411.
Medugarra, 94.
Digitized
by Google
528
Index I, — Local Names,
Medway River, 206.
Megginch, 353.
Megganaes, 171.
Meiches, 384.
Melas, 472.
Melbourne, 35.
Mell Fell, 329.
Melrose, 225.
Melville, 192.
Melun, 222.
Menai Straits, 230.
Meppenthal, 384.
Mercia, 264.
Mercy, Bay of, 34.
Merkbury, 265.
Merida, 317.
Merring, 127.
Merrington, 127.
Merthyr Tydvil, 340.
Mesham, 230.
Messina, 7, 470.
Meteora, 471.
Meuse River, 218, 232.
Mexico, 17.
Mezzojuso, 10 1.
Michigan, 17.
Micklegarth, 159.
Micklegate, 252.
Middleney, 351.
Middlesex, 268.
Middlewich, 162.
Middlezoy, ^52.
Midhurst, 361.
Milan, 230.
Miletus, 7.
Milford, 161, 176.
Mill^te Street, 252.
Miningsby, 167.
Minnesota, 17.
Minorca, 462.
Minories, 281.
Minshall-Vernon, loi.
Mischabel Homer, 113.
Misilmeri, loi.
Misraim, 80, 465.
Mississippi, 17, 462.
Missouri, 17, 466.
Mis Tor, 225, 325.
Mistretta, loi.
Mitau, 333.
Mittelmark, 265.
Moat Hill, 291.
Mobile, 25.
Mocha, 407.
Moffat, 192.
Mohawk, 17.
Mold, 190.
Mona, 230.
Monastir, 345.
Monch, 474.
Monmbello, 100, 212.
Monklands, 345.
Monkton, 345.
Mons Palatinus, 451.
Monstiers, 345.
Montacute Hill, 190.
Mont Blanc, 5, 474.
Mont Cenis, 221.
Monterchi, 334.
Monte Merino, loi.
Monte Moro, 112.
Monte Nuovo, 358.
Monte Rossi, 473.
Montford, 19a
Montgomeri, 71.
Montp^omery, 190.
Montjoie, 302.
Mont Maure, I la
Mont Mort, iii.
Montreal, 25.
Montreuil sur Mer, 355.
Montrose, 225.
Moorby, 167.
Moorfields, 273.
Moorlinch, 351.
Moot Hill, 291, 292.
Moravia, 266.
Moray, 86.
Morbecque, 266.
Morcambe Bay, 217.
Morea, 398.
. Morengo, 147.
Moighen, 112.
Morhiban, 86.
Moro, The, 114.
Mosbach, 384.
Mote Hill, 291.
Mote of the Mark, 291.
Mote, The, 291.
Motuca, 93.
Moulsey, 348.
Moumour, no.
Mount Benjerlaw, 212.
Mousselwick, 176.
Moussul, 42a
Moustiers, 345.
Moutay, 291.
Moutier, 345.
Muchelney, 351.
Much Wenlock, 462.
Muggleswick Bay, 176.
Miihlenbach, 46.
Mull of Cantyrc, 329.
Miillrose, 389.
Miinchen, 345.
Mundham, 313.
Munich, 34$.
Munster, 102.
Murcia, 263.
Muretto, 114.
Murgis, 97.
Muro Castel, 115.
Muteomeli, loi.
Naalsoe, 171.
Nabd, 384.
N&blus, or Nabulus, 384,
464.
Nadur, 103.
Nagpoor, 213.
Nan Bield, 230.
Nancemellin, 230.
Nancy, 23a
Nancy Couans Bay, 391.
Nangv, 231.
Nanhai, 463.
Nanking, 463,
Nanling, 463.
Nans, 230.
Nantes, 230, 49a
Nant Bonrant, 23a
Nant Dant, 230.
Nant d'Arpenaz, 230.
NantdeGria, 23a
Nant dc Taoonay, 230.
Nant Frangon, 230^ 369,
467.
Nantglyn, 23a
Nantua, 23a
Nantwich, 162, 230, 370.
Naples, 384, 464.
Nash Point, 176.
Natal, 13.
Natchez, 17.
Natolia, 76.
Digitized
by Google
Index I. — Local Names.
529
Natnras, 50.
Nauplia, 384.
Navesby, 313.
Navistock, 313.
Naxia, 377.
Naze, The, 163, 164,176.
Nazirah, 377.
Neath River, 218,
Nebrissa, 97.
Neckar River, 329.
Needles, The, 471.
Negropont, 397.
Ness, The, 179.
Nesting, 295.
NctheAy, 158, 463.
Netherwich, 162.
Netley, 466.
Neufchitel, 464.
Neumark, 265.
Neustadt, 464,
Nevers, 222,
Neville, 464.
Nevilleholt, 191.
New Amsterdam, 27, 28.
New Brunswick, 38.
Newby, 464.
New Caledonia, 34.
Newcastle, 464.
Newchurch, 35a
New Forest, 364.
Newfomidland, 10^ 21,
464.
Newgate, 252, 274.
New Ground, 352.
New Hampshire, 38,
Newhaven, 351.
New Hebrides, 34.
New Holland, 32.
New Inverness, 27.
New Jersey, 26.
Newland, 464.
New Netherlands, 17.
Nmt Orleans, 25, 38.
Newport, 351, 464.
Newport-Paciiell, 191.
Newsom, 138.-
New South Wales, 34.
Newstead, 464.
New Sweden, 27.
New York, 27, 74.
New Zealand, 32.
Niagara, 17, 37,
Nightingale Lane, 399.
Nihou, 188.
Nilgherries, 472.
Nimwegen, 389.
Nine Elms, 464, 468,
Nf pissing, 17.
Nismes, 331.
Nobar, 3.
Nora, 92.
Norbury, 462.
Norfolk, 268, 462.
Norfolk Island, 34.
Norleigh, 462.
Normandby, 268.
Normandikes, 304.
Normandy, 71.
Norman's Cross, 179.
Normanton, 192.
North Anna River, 27.
Northfleet, 187, 274.
Northumberland, 268,462^
Northwich, 162.
Norwich, 165.
Norwick Bay, 172.
Notre Dame des Poztes,
356.
Notting Hill, 277.
Nova Scotia, 10, 26.
Nova Zembla, 464.
Novgorod, 464, 486.
Noyon, 222.
Nuneaton, 345.
Nunthorpe, 345.
Nutford, 466.
Nycoping, 373.
Nymet Rowland, 33JU
Nyon, 222.
Oakley, 468.
Oare, 482.
Ochil Hills, 247.
Ochiltree, 247.
Ock River, 204.
OdalengO) 147.
Oelbach, 389.
Offa*8 Dyke, 257.
Oflfenham, 312.
Offley, 31a.
Ohio, 17.
Ohre River, 217.
Oise River, .204.
Oister Hills, 314.
Okeley, 468.
Oke River, 204*
Olbia, 92.
Oldbury, 264.
Old Ditch, 257.
Old Ford, 254.
Old Man, 388.
Oiney, 468.
Oloron, 109.
Oporto» 411.
Orange, Fort, 27.
Orange River, 31, 386.
Orellana River, 29.
Orford, 161, 165.
Oifordaess, 164.
Ora[an Mountains, 471.
Onppo, 96.
Oristan, J02.
Orkney, 171.
Orleans, 318.
Ormathwaite, 174.
Ormes Head, 176.
Ormsby, 126, 166.
Ormunde, 463.
Oscney, 348, 204.
Ose River, 204.
Osey Island, 204.
Ossaboer, 179,
Ossaia, 299.
Osteglia, 357.
Ostend, 463.
Ostia, 356.
Ost-tonne, 119.
Oswestry, 312.
Otford, 254, 312, 384,
463.
Otheiy, 351.
•Othoca, 92.
Ottawa, 17.
Otterboum, 466.
Oudales, 188.
Ouistreham, 141.
Ourcq River, 216.
Ousebum, 204, 211,
Ouse River, 204.
Ousel River, 204,
Over, 354, 482.
Owlar Tor, 225.
Owstwick, 139.
Oxford, 254, 4664
Oidey, 460^
M M
Digitized
by Google
S30
Index L — Local Names.
Oxmantown, i8i.
Oxney, 354.
Oxwicb, 176.
Jabba, 337.
Faclwnus, 91, 93.
Pacific Ocean, 469.
Padstow, 341.
Paestum, 334.
Painbettf, 186.
Palatinus, Mons, 451.
Palermo, 469.
Palestine, 72.
Pall Mall, 288.
Palmyra, 377, 386, 469.
Pampeluna, 318.
Panama, 467.
Pann Castle, 220.
Papa, 337.
Papas, 337.
Paplay, 337.
Paraguay, 481.
Parahiba, 481.
Parana, 487.
Paris, 72, 490.
Paro, 377.
Passingford, 254.
Patagonia, 467.
Patimo, 377.
Paunton, 253.
Pelorus Cape, 371, 470.
Pembroke, 220.
Pen, 220.
Penard, 220.
Pencoid, 22a
Pencraig, 220.'
Pendennis, 220.
Pendhill, 212.
Pendlehill, 212.
Pendleton, 220.
Pendrich, 220.
Penherf, 219.
Penhill, 212, 220.
Penilucus, 219.
Penketh, 220.
Penlaw, 212.
Penmaenmawr, 220, 462.
Penmarch, 219.
Penn, 220.
Pennagaul Hills, 220.
Pennant, 23a
Pennigant, 220.
Pennine Alps, 219.
Pennsylvania, 16,
Penpont, 220.
Penrhos, 220, 224.
Penrhyn, 206, 22a
Penrith, 220.
Pensby, 175.
Penshurst, 220, 360.
Pentland Hills, 220.
Pentlow Hill, 212.
Penwally, 220.
Penyholt Stack, 176.
Penzance, 341.
Peraea, 463.
Perga, 123.
Pergamos, 123.
Pemambuco, 30, 470.
Perranzabuloe, 341.
Peru, 408.
Peru^a, 377.
Perwick, 173.
Peschkow, 466.
Peterborough, 123,
Petersfield, 361.
Petersgate, 252.
Petra, 83.
Petuaria, 139.
Pevensey, 351.
Pfyn, 207.
Pharos, 371.
Phiala, 471.
Philadelphia, 15, 317.
Philippine Islands, 7, 29.
Philipstown, 7.
Phineke, 91.
Phoenice, 91.
Phoenicia, 469.
Phcenicus, 91.
Phceniki, 91.
Piacenza, 383, 470.
Piccadilly, 288.
Picts' Work, 257.
Piedmont, 75.
Pihking, 463.
Pihling, 463.
Pike o^ Stickle, 174.
Pilatus, 395, 474.
Pile of Foudry, 372.
Pimlico, 289.
Pindus, Mount, 219.
flnhow, 2I2«
Pisa, 377.
Pisgah, 475. ,
Pisogne, 147.
Pitchley, 27a
Pittsbuigh, 26.
Pizdel Moro, 112.
Piz Morter, 114.
Piz Mortiratsch, 1 14.
Piz Muretto, 114.
Pleshy, 19a
Plumetot, 141, 185.
Plymouth, 16.
Plynlimmon, 465.
Point Anxiety, 34.
Point Tumagain, 34.
Poitou, 71, 49a
Poland, 397.
Polbrook, 325.
Polenza, 470.
Polgarth, 98.
Polsden, 325.
Polsdon, 325,
Pobtead, 32";.
Pomerania, 86, 463.
Po Morto, 357.
Pontefract, 249, 253.
Ponteland, 253.
Pont Neath Vechan, 462.
Pontresina, 115.
Pontus, 86.
Poppenwind, 43.
Populonia, 377.
Porchester, 249.
Port dynNorwig, 176.
Portfleet, 274.
Port na Spanien, 301*
Port Philip, 35.
Portsmouth, 307.
Port Valais, 356.
Portugal, 65.
Posgost, 5a
Potomac, 17, 37.
Potedam, 45, 389.
Po Vecchio, 357.
Pourri^res, 299.
Preston, 345.
Prestwich, 345.
Prettlewell, i^
Priestholme, 1761
Priors Hardwick, 345.
Providence, 15, 38.
Providence^ Fort, 34.
Digitized
by Google
Index I. — Local Names.
531
Prussia, 463.
Puente de Alcantara, 212.
Pulopenang, 469.
Punjab, 465.
Purfleet, 187, 274.
Putney, 280, 348.
Puy Maure, 1 10.
Pwllhelli, 370.
Pyrenees, 437, 475-
Quantovic, 188.
Quat, 269.
Quatford, 269.
Quebec, 25.
Queenborough, 298.
Queenhithe, 279.
Queen's County, 7.
Quiberon, 229.
Quillebeuf, 186.
Quimper, 71.
Quittebeuf, 186.
Raby, 175.
Radeburg, 333.
Radegast, 333.
Radegosz, 333.
Radensdorf, 333.
Radibor, 333.
Radihoscfat, 333.
Rainsbanrow, 174.
Raithby, 167.
Raleigh, la.
Raleigh Island, 18.
Rampsholme, 174.
Ramsey, 177, 349.
Ramsgate, 252.
Ransdale, 174.
Rapidan, 27.
Rappahanock, 17, 37.
Rasacarami, 10 1.
Ras el Tafal, 103.
Rasenna, 50.
Rasicalbo, loi.
Rasicanzir, loi.
Rasicomo, loi.
Ratcliffe, 471.
Rathay River, 174.
Rathboyne, 487.
Rathlin, 487.
Ratzenwinden, 43.
Ray River, 207.
Rea River, 207.
Reading, 243.
Recken Dyke, 257.
Reculvers, 138.
Redriff, 279.
Redruth, 33 u
Red Sea, 386, 471.
Regalmuto, loi.
Rega River, 207.
Regen River, 207.
Reichenhall, 371.
Reigate, 252, 477.
Reikiavik, 465.
Reinnardswind, 43.
Rellinghaus, 152.
Rendlesham, 312.
Repps, 166.
Repulse Bay, 34.
Resultana, loi.
Retford, 468.
Return Reef, 34.
Revesby, 167.
Reykholt, 359.
Rey River, 207.
Rha River, 207.
Rhea River, 207.
Rhee River, 207.
Rhegium, 471.
Rheims, 490.
Rhind, 206.
Rhine River, 207.
Rhin River, 207.
Rhoda, Gulf of; 40.
Rhoetia, 50.
Rhone River, 308.
Richardtun, 192.
Richmond, 190.
Rickeston, 178.
Ringwood, 73.
Rio Colorado, 471.
Rio de la Plata, 466..
Rio Grande, 462^
Rio Negro, 472,
Ripley, 313.
Rievaux, 191.
Robeston, 178.
Rockbeer, 179.
Rockbere, 179.
Rockingham, 147^
Rodenditmol, 292.
Rodges, 333.
Rodney, 351, 468.
M M 2
Roc River, 107.
Rogeston, 178.
Rokndseck, 394.
Rollesby, 166.
Romagna, 73.
Romania, 73.
Rome, 54.
Romfoid, 254.
Romney Marsh, 349.
Romney, New, 349.
Romney, Old, 349.
Ronaldsa, 171.
Ronaldsay, 173.
Ronsegno, 147.
Roodey, 352.
Roosefelt, 28.
Rosa, Monte, 325.
Rosatsch, 21$.
Roscommon, 215.
Rosdtiy, 224.
Roseboom, 28.
Roseg, 125.
Rosendale, 28.
Rosenlaui, 225.
Roslin, 216, 225.
Rosneath, 224.
Ross, 224.
Rossberg, 224, 478.
Rostrenan, 225.
Rotha River, 174.
Rouen, 416, 490.
Roun, 73.
Roumelia, 73.
Rousillon, 41a
Routot, 185.
Row Tor, 225.
Roxburgh, 225.
Roy River, 207.
Rozas, 40.
Rubicon, 450.
Rue River, 207.
Rugby, 157, 471.
Rugen Island, 71.
Runnimede, 291.
Rusholme, 468.
Rusucurum, 94.
Rutchester, 258.
Rutland, 471.
Rye River, 207.
Ryknield Street, 25(\
Rynd, 206.
Rysom Garth, 138.
Digitized
by Google
532
Index L — Local Names.
Saala River, 371.
Saas, 114.
Saborra, 97.
Sachsenhausen, 153, 271
St. Agnes, 178, 391.
St Alban's Head, 392.
St. Albans, 344.
St Angelo, 343.
St Augustine, 13.
St Bees, 341.
St Bride's Stack, 176.
St Brieux, 342.
St Charles, 15.
St. Clair, Lac, 25.
St Cloud, 343.
St Denis, 345.
St. Domingo, 378.
St Edmund's Bury, 344.
St Edmund's Dyke, 257,
St Galleu, 342.
St Goar, 342, 391.
St. Helena, 13.
St Heliers, 343.
St Ives, 341.
St Kenelm's Well, 341.
St Lawrence, 13.
St Loui^ 25.
St Malo, 342.
St Maiy Overy, 279.
St Maiy Somerset, 279.
St. Mar/s Gate, 252.
St MichaePs Mount, 97,
St Neot*s, 342.
St Omer, 342.
St Oreste, 391.
St Osyth, 344.
St Petersbui^h, 319.
St. Pierre sur le Digue,
St Ubes, 391.
St Victoire, 299.
Sala River, 371.
Saldanha Bay, 31.
Salduba, 97.
Salem, 13, 38.
Sale River, 371.
'Salisbury, 379.
Salmonby, 167.
: Salop, 74, 378.
Salza, 371.
Salzburg, 37 1.
.;Samadien, i^.
Saiiiarcand, 316.
Samo, 377.
JSamos, 92, 475.
Samothrace, 92.
Sanda, 171.
Sandbacb, 4,66.
Sandpte, 252.
Sandhurst, 466.
Sandoe, 171.
Sandrup, 158.
Sandsthing, 295.
Sandwich, 162, 181, 348,
466.
Sandwich Islands, 34.
Sandwich Land, 34.
Sand wick, 170, 172.
Sand wick Bay, 171,
San^metto, 299.
Sanifera, 96.
Sannat, 103.
San Salvador, ix.
San Sebastian, 12.
Santa Cruz, 12.
Santander, 343.
Santarem, 343.
Santiago de Compostella,
^ 343,.345.
Santorin, 470.
Same, 472.
Samow, 472.
Sam yr Afrange, 369.
Sart, 377.
Sarum, 223, 378.
Sassenberg, 270, 271.
Sassetot, 141, 271.
Satterleigh, 322.
Satterthwaite^ 322,
Satumia, 377.
Sauteme, 411. *
Savoy, The, 28L
Sawting, 295.
Saxafbrd, 170.
Saxby, 268.
Saxony, 71.
Scale Mow, 175.
Scalenghe, 147.
Scaletta, 116.
Scallov^y, 296.
Scanderoon, 316.
Scaranos, 189.
Scarborough, 123, 163.
Scar House, 164.
Scamess, 174, 189.
Schaffhausen, 487.
Schautewitz, 333.
Schludems, 50.
Schneekoppe, 474.
SchoUnach, 368.
Schreckhom, 474
Schwerin, 466.
Schwytz,27i.
Scinde, 466.
Scio, 469:
Scotland, 70, 49a
Scotncy, 349.
Scotthorpe, 268.
Scratch Meal Scar, 328.
Scratta Wood, 329.
Scrivelsby, 167.
Scrotesby, 166.
Scythopolis, 270.
Seacoal Lane, 277.
Seaford, x6i, 180.
Seal Chart, 360.
Seckington, 351, 38a
Sedan, 427.
Sedgeley, 468.
Segodunum, 222.
Seidlitz, 418, 485.
Selby, 158.
Seleucia, 316.
Selinua, 92.
Selling, 128.
Selsey, 351, 466.
Senlac, 301.
Sermon Lane, 398.
Servianika, 27a
Seton, 102.
Sevenoaks, 464, 468.
Sevilla, 96.
Sewardsione, 3x2.
Sharpenhoeknoll, 212.
Shawbury, 468.
Shaws, Tlie, 391.
Sheemess, 164, 189.
Shellness, 164.
Shepody Mountain, 391.
Sherringham, 128.
Shilton, 313.
Shilvington, 128.
Shinbumess, 174.
Shipton, 466.
Shirleywicfa, i62«
Digitized
by Google
Index L— Local Names.
533
Shoeburyness, 164.
Shoreditch, 279.
Shotover Hill, 390.
Shottington, 120.
Shotwick, 175.
Shrewsbury, 378, 468.
Sicily, 470.
Sidon, 2, 7, 90. 376.
Siebenbiirgen, 46, 464.
Siegesbcrg, 302.
Sienna, 377, 418.
Sierra Leone, 12.
Sierra Morena, 472.
Sierra Nevada, 5, 474,
477.
Sierra Vermeja, 472.
Sigtuna, 119.
Silberhom, 474.
Silbury, 331.
Silly Wreay, 390.
SUver Hill, 177.
Silverholm, 174.
Silver How, 175,477.
Simcoe, Lake, 35.
Sinai, Mount, 408.
Sinde, 80.
Sion, 221, 475, 490.
Sise Lane, 399.
Sistrans, 5a
Sitten, 221, 490.
Siu^-Ling, 474.
SkMji, Cape, 359.
Skalholt, 359.
Skeggles Water, 174.
Skelding, 128.
Skelmergate, 252.
Skerki Rocks, 189.
Skeroar, 170.
Skerpoint, 176.
Skerries, The, 163, 176,
179, 181.
Skerrow, Loch, 170.
Skerryback, 176.
Skerryford, 176.
Skerryvore, 163.
Skillington, 147.
Skogarfoss, 160, 359.
Skogcoltr, 359.
Skokholm Island, 176.
Skomer, 177.
Skrattaskar, 329.
Skyro, 377.
Slaughter, 303.
Slaughterford, 301, 302.
Snierwick, x8i.
Smithfield, Viiiginia, 22.
Smith's Isles, 22.
Smith's Sound, 19, 35.
Snafell, Iceland, 5, 474.
Snafell, Isle of Man, 5,
474.
Sneefell, 173, 474.
Sneehatten, 5, 474.
Sneekoppe, 5, 474.
Sneeuw Bergen, 5, 474.
Snowdon, 5, 474.
Snow Hill, 399.
Snows, The, 391.
Soar River, 218.
Society Islands, 33.
Sodenck, 173.
Sodor, 172.
Sollentuna, 119.
Solothum, 201.
Solway, 73, 206, 490.
Somerset, 69.
Somers Islands, 29.
Sommersby, 167.
Soracte, 391.
Southfleet, 274.
Spa, 418.
Spain, 91, 94.
Spaniola, 115.
Sparti, 377.
Speen, 249.
Spitalfields, 280.
Spithead, 476.
Spuyten Duyvel, 28.
Staatsburg, 28.
Stack Island, 176.
Stack, North, 176.
Stack Rocks, 176.
Stack, South, 176.
Stackpole Head, 176.
Staffe, 163, 466.
Stafford, 243, 254.
Staines, 484.
Stake, 174.
Stamboul, 384.
Standard Hill, 301.
Stanford, 254.
Stanko, 384.
Stansgate Wick, 164.
Stapleford, 254.
Stapleford Abbots, 345,
Stappen, 466.
Staigard, 486.
Start Island, 353.
Starwitz, 464.
Staten Island, 27.
Steepa^'at, 172.
Steepholm, 177.
Stepney, 279, )8 1, 399,
Steyermark, 266.
Sticklinch, 351.
Sticks, The, 174.
Stockbridge, 254.
Stockholm, 163.
Stoke-Mandeville, 191.
Stoke- Pirou,, 191.
Stokesby, 166.
Stolac, 5a
Stolvizza, 50.
Stonegate, 252.
Stone Street, 250.
Stony Stratford, 250.
Store River, 201.
Storms, Cape of, 31.
Stor River, 201.
Stortford, 254.
Stourroouth, 349.
Stour River, 201,
Stowmarket, 374.
Straightgate, 179.
Strand, The, 275.
Strangford, 161, i£i.
Stratford, 251, 254, 462,
Stratford-le-Bow, 253.
Stratford-on-Avon, 254,
Strathclyde, 480.
Strath-helmsdale, 170.
Stratton, 251.
Streatham, 251.
Streatley, 251,
Streets of London, 272,
Stretford, 251.
Stretton, 251, 462.
Stronsa, 171.
Strumble Head, 176.
Studda, 177.
Stura River, 201.
Sturminster, 345.
Stuyvesant, 28.
Suabia, 71, 149.
Sudbury, 462.
Sudley, 463.
Digitized
by Google
534
Index I. — Local Names.
S.udreyjar, 172.
Suel, 97.
Sueveghem, 271.
Suffolk, 268, 462.
Sulbv, 172.
Sulchi, 93.
Sully, 176.
Superior, Lake, 25.
SOr, 377.
Surrey, 268, 462.
Susquehanna, 17.
Sussex, a68, 462.
Sutherland, 75, 170, 462.
Swabia, 71, I49.
Swale River, 2i8.
Swanage, 180, 381.
Swanescomb, 180
Swan River, 467.
Swanthorpe, 180.
S wanton, 180.
Swanwick, 180.
Swashings, The, 391.
Swedeslx>ro', 27, 4CX
Swindon, 466.
Swingfield, 466.
Sybaris, 93, 444.
Sydney, 35.
Syria, 87, 90.
Tabse, 93.
Table Mountain, 471.
Tacarata, 94.
Tachbury, 364.
Tadmor, 2, 376, 469.
Taff River, 197, 209.
Tagara, 94.
Tagarata, 94.
Ta^s, 96.
Tain, 295.
Ta Loch, 216.
Tamar River, 216.
Tame River, 216.
Tamworth, 12a.
Tancarville, 159.
Tankerton, 192.
Tarasp, 115.
Tarifa, 104, 315, 445.
Tarik, Mountain of, 104.
Tarragona, 96.
Tarsus, 92.
Tasmania, 32.
Taurus, a 25.
Tave. River, 216.
Tavon River, ao9.
Tavy River, 197, 216.
Taw River, 197, 216.
Tay River, a 16.
Teane River, 209.
Tees River, 209, 218.
Teign River, 209.
Telliboden, iia.
Tema River, 216.
Teme River, 216.
Tempe, 471.
Temple Chelsing, 346.
Temple Dinsley, 346.
Temple Roydon, 346.
Tempsa, 93.
Tenby, 177.
Tenedos, 377.
Tenterden, 361.
Terceira, 465.
Terhoulde, 188.
Ternengo, 147.
Terregles, 346.
Tete Blanche, 5.
Teufelsmauer, 328.
Teufelstein, 328, 389.
Tew Dunse, 322.
Te Wesley, 322.
Tew, Great, 322.
Tewin, 3*2.
Teyn Riv^r, 209.
Thames River, 203, 216.
Thanet, 138.
Thapsus, 93.
Thaso, 377.
Thaxstead, 203, 384.
Thera, 470.
Thermopylae, 465.
Thimbleby, 297.
Thinganes, a94.
Thingdon, 297.
ThingmuU, 294.
Thingore, 294.
Thingskaler, 294.
Thingvellir, 293.
Thingwall, 175, 295.
Thistleworth, 384.
Thoby, 164.
Thomaston, 178.
Thong Castle, 393.
Thong Castor, 393.
Thorigny, 374.
Thorington, 128.
Thomey, 352, 468.
Thomey Island, 280, 348.
Thomston, 177.
Thornton, 175.
Thorp, 179.
Thorpe, 165, 180.
Thorpe, East, 165.
Thorpe le Soken, 165.
Thorrington, ia8.
Thorshavn, 171.
Thrace, 83.
Thun, 221.
Thunderhill, 324-
Thundersfteld, 324.
Thundersleigh, 324.
Thundorf, 222.
Thundridge, 324.
Thurleigh, 324.
Thurlow, 324-
Thuming, 147.
Thur River, 199.
Thurr River, «x>.
Thursby, 324.
Thurscross, 324.
Thursficld, 324.
Thursford, 324.
Thui^helton, 179, 296,
324.
Thureley, 324.
Thurso, 170^ 324.
Thurstable, 324.
Thurstan, 177.
Thurstanton, 175.
Thurston, 324.
Thwing, 297.
Tian River, 209.
Tiberias, 318.
Tierra del Fuego> 465.
Tilisuna, 50.
Tingewick, 297.
Tingshogen, a93.
Tingwall, 295.
Tinslcy, 297.
Tinwald Hill, 295.
Tinwell, 297.
Tlascala, 17.
Tobago, 409-
Todbum, 466.
Todfield, 4661
Todincthim, 119.
Digitized
by Google
Index L — Local Names.
535
Toft, 167.
Tokav, 411.
Toledo, 97, 420.
Toller Fratrum, 346.
Tom Kedgwick Moun-
tain, 391.
Tone River, 209.
Tonengo, 147.
Tong, 269.
Tooley Street, 381, 399.
Tooter Hill, 326.
Toot Hill, 326.
Toplitz, 468.
Tor, 225.
Torbay, 225.
Torcegno, 147.
Torkington, 147.
Tomess, 324.
Torre River, 201.
Torres Straits, 29.
Torres Vedras, 464.
Tortuga, 467.
Tot Hill, 326.
Touraay, 385.
Toumebue, 186.
Tours, 490.
Tourville, 185.
Towv, River, 197.
Trachonitis, 83.
Traeth Mawr, 352.
Tra^gar, 109, 488.
Tralee, 482.
Transylvania, 46, 463.
Trapani, 395, 470.
Trebbia, 229.
Trebizond, 471.
Treborough, 228.
TregHa, 229.
Trenance, 230.
Trent River, 200.
Tresso, 229.
Tretire, 228.
Trevento, 228.
Treves, 72, 228^ 49a
Trevi, 229.
Treviso, 229.
-Trewen, 228.
Tricastin, 228.
Trient, 229.
Trieste, 229.
Tring 125.
Trinida^ 12.
Trins, 50.
Tripe Court, 399.
Tripoli, 7, 384,417,464.
Trivento, 231.
Trondhjem, 298.
Trottemish, 172.
Trotterscliffe, 382.
Trougham, 364.
Troyes, 228, 490,
Tnixillo, 318.
Tschars, 50.
Tucking Mill, 178.
Tuileries, 290, 452.
Tulloch Street, 381.
Tunbridge, 254.
Turas, 239.
Turdctani, 239.
Turhulme, 187.
Turia River, 201.
Turiaso, 239.
Turiga, 239.
Turin, 72, 490.
Turkey, 72.
Tumagain Point, 34.
Tursdale, 324.
Tuscany, 50.
Tusis, 5a
Tyburn, 278.
Tydd, 354.
Ty Ddewi, 340-
Tyne River, 209.
Tynet River, 209.
Tynwald Hill, 297, 298.
Tyre, 7, 90.
Tyrrell's Ford, 308.
Tyrol, 84, 225.
Ucheltree, 247.
Ucla, 97.
Uckfield, 361.
Uflford, 312.
Uggmere, 204.
Uig, 172.
Ukermark, 265.
Ukraine, 265.
Ulrome, 139.
Ulbthorpe, 460.
Ulster, 182.
Ulverstone, 174,
Umber, 418.
U^ted States, 54.
Upminster, 345.
Upton, 463.
Ural MountainSi 475.
Urbiaca, 239.
Urbina, 239.
Urci, 97.
Uria, 239, 24a
Use River, 204.
Usk River, 203.
Utica, 94.
Utrecht, 385.
Uxbridge, 254.
Vaagoc, 171.
Val de Nant, 213, 230.
Valden«>, 147.
ValdfiPenas, 411.
Valenciennes, 318, 423.
Valentia, 470.
Valetta, 315, 470.
Valparaiso, 469.
Vancouver's Island, 33.
Van Diemen's Land, 32.
Vannes, 231, 490.
Varengefjord, 189,
Varengeville, 189.
Varengo, 147.
Vattemish, 172.
Vels, 50.
Velthums, 50.
Venetia, 79, 231, 49a
Venezuela, 467.
Vera Cruz, 12.
Verbose, 188.
Verde, Cape, 471.
Verdun, «22.
Vermont, 25, 472.
Verurium, «39.
Vespasian's Camp, 314.
Vesuvius, 358, 406.
ViaFlandrica, 178.
Vico, 188.
Victoria, 319.
VigOi 162, 188.
Villanders, 50.
Villeneuve, 356, 464.
Vindelicia, 79.
Vindobonum, 79.
Vineyard, The, 367.
Vinland, la
Virginia, 7, 17.
Digitized
by Google
536
Index L — Local Names.
Vittefleur, 187.
Vittoriosa, 316, 470.
Vogar, 177.
Vokterra, 377.
Volhynia, 85.
Voorbourg, 384.
Wadhurst, 361.
Wadley, 323.
Wafer Inlet, 32.
Walbrook, 278.
Walcheren, 63.
Walderawick, 165.
Wales, 63.
Waligost, 46.
W^allabout Bay, 27..
Wallachia, 63.
Wallenscc, 63.
Wallenstadt, 63.
Wallentuna) ii$^
WaUis. 63.
Wallingford, 254.-
Wallsend. 258.
Walmgatc, 252.
Walney, 173.
Walpole^ 354.
Walsoken, 354.
Walterstonj 178*
Walton, 165, 354.
Walton - on - the • Nase",
165.
Walworth* 122.
Wambrook^ 323.
Wamden, 323.
Wampoolf 323.
Wanborough, 322,
Wandlesbury, 269.
Wandsworth, 122.
Wanabeckwater, 211.
Wansdyke, 256, 323,
Wansford, 523.
Wansley, 323.
Wanstead, 323.
Wanstrow, 322.
Wanthwaite, 323.
Warcoppice, 304.
Wardlaw, 263.
Wardykcs, 304.
Ware, 304.
War Lane, 301.
Warminster, 345.
Warmlow, 313.
Wamborough, 322.
Warrington, 129, 147.
Warwick, 162.
Washburn, 211.
Wash, The, 204.
Waterbeach, 354.
Waterford, 161, 181, 390.
Watervliet, 28.
Wathwick, 176.
Watling Street, 250.
Wayland Smith, 327.
Weald, The, 360.
Wedesley, 323.
Wednesbuiy, 322.
Wednesfield, 323.
Wednesham, 323.
Wedneshough, 323.
Weighbogen, 332.
Weighton, 332, 335.
Weisshom, 5, 474.
Wiessmies» 5, 474.
Weland's Forge, 327.
Wellond River, 482.
Wellingen, 152.
Wellington, 35, 125.
Well Street, 360.
Wembury, 322.
Wendel Hill, 270,
Wenden, 44.
Wendhausen, 44.
Wendischhayn, 44.
Wendlebury, 269.
Wendon, 323.
Werrington, 129.
Weschnitz River, 44.
Weser River, 463.
Wessex, 268, 462.
Westgate, 252.
Westholme, 352.
West Indies, 400.
Westmann Isles, 271.
Westminster, 345.
Westmoreland, 462.
Westonzc^land, 352.
Westphalia, 85, 463.
Westra, 171.
Westrup, 158.
West-tonne, 119.
Westvoe, 170
Wetterhom, 474.
Wexford, 161, 181.
Weybridgc, 254.
Wey River, 206.
Whitbv, 157, 175.
Whiteford, 176.
Whitefriars, 281.
Whitehall, 379,
Whitehoise Hill, 327.
Whiteness, 164.
White Sea, 471.
Whitney, 348.
Whitsand, 177.
Wick, 162, 170^ i8a
Wickham, 162.
Wickham Market, 374.
Wickhaven, 176.
Wicklow, 162, 181.
Wick Rock, 178W
Wieck, 484.
Wieringerwaard, 1891
Wiesenfeld, 368.
Wiesenstiege, 368.
Wigborou^ 164.
Wight, Islcof,7i,307.387-
Wigthorp. 332.
WiThdmsbad, 319.
Wilksby, 167.
Williamstown, 178.
Wihipadi, 385.
Wilstrop, 158.
Wiltshire, 69.
Wimille, 133.
Winchelsea, 35a
Winchester, 231, 243.
Windheim, 44.
Windischbuch, 43.
Windischgratx, 43.
Windle, 133, 27a
Windleden, 270.
Windlesham, 269.
Windsor, 482.
Wing^eton, laa
Winnal, 368.
Winnenden, 43.
Winstcd, 364.
Winter Harbour, 34.
Winterthur, 201, 389.
Wisbeach, 204, 354.
Wisborow HiU, 322.
"Wisby, 332.
Wisconsin, 17.
Wiskin, 354.
Wisk River, 204*
Digitized
by Google
Index L — Local Nanus.
537
Wissan, J55.
Wistman'g Wood, 292.
Wiza River, 174.
Woden Hill, 323.
Woking, 125, 128.
Wolds, The, 363.
Wolferlow, 308.
Wolga, 462.
WoUau, 466.
Wokingham, 128.
Wolveaey, 368.
Wonersh, 323.
Wonston, 323.
Woodford, 254.
Woodnesborough, 322.
Woolsingham, 128.
Woolwioi, 164.
Wooton, 364.
Worcester, 69, 73, 382,
490.
Worcestershire, 268.
Worm's Head, 176.
Wrabness, 163, 164.
Wrath, Cape, 390.
Wrenside, 174.
Wrey River, 207.
Wroxcter, 225, 261.
Wybore, 332.
Wych Street, 279.
Wycombe, 227.
Wydale, 332.
Wye River, 206.
Wyk, 188.
Wyke, 162.
Wysg River, 203.
Xanthus, 471.
Xeres, 411. *
Xeuchia, 103.
Yafa, 377.
Yair River, 214.
Yarcombe, 226.
Yare River, 196, 214.
Yarro River, 214.
Yarrow River, 196, 214.
Yaxley, 354.
Yellow Sea, 386, 471.
Yenikale, 100.
Yes Tor, 225.
Ynys Fach, 352.
Ynys Fawr, 352.
Ynys Hir, 352.
Yonker's Island, 27.
York, 243, 381.
York River, 410.
Yorkshire, 74.
Yverdmi, 221.
Yvetot, 185.
Zab River, 197.
Zaragossa, 317, 385.
Zebbey, 103.
Zeboim, 467.
Zeitz, 333.
Zerbruggen, 463.
Zermatt, 233, 384, 463,
474.
Zershell, 317.
Zlebac,jo.
Zsil, 31&
Zuglio, 318, 385.
Zurich, 74, 201.
Zuyder Zee, 463.
Zweibrucken, 464.
Zwettnitz, 333.
Zwitto, 333.
Zyet, loi.
Digitized
by Google
538
Index IL — Matters.
INDEX II,
MATTERS,
*/ Prefixes, suffixes, and roots are distinguished by the absence of an initial
capital. English words whose etymology is explained or illustrated are printed
in italics.
a, suffix, 163, 171, 174, 348, 481, 483.
aayn, Arabic prefix, 102.
abier, Celtic word, 187, 245, 482.
Adjectival components of local names,
list of, 462—475.
Adjectival element (The) of local
names, 460.
afon, root, 195, river-names containing
it, 196—199.
Agate, 418.
Age, relative, adjectival components
denoting it, 464.
agh, 479.
Agricultural tenns in England, mostly
Celtic, 160.
Agriculture, its condition in Saxon
England as shown by local names,
ain, Arabic prefix, 102, 113, 482.
Alabaster^ 418.
Alans in Switzerland, 5a
al, Arabic article, 106.
Alemanni, The, 59.
Alexander the Great; cities named
after him, 316.
Alexandrine verse, 439.
Aliens, names in London derived
from, 282.
Al Jezirah (Mesopotamia), 104.
AUemands, The, 59, 6a
all — white, river-names containing it,
214,
Alps, The Arabs in, ill — 116, 474;
ethnology of, 48 — 5 1 .
America, colonization o( 9 ; its dis-
covery by the Northmen, 10; ite
namesy 11, 457; its early history
illustrated by local names, 37, 38 ;
mistake in naming it, II, 400. .Sar
United States.
American names, derivation of, 38^
Amerigo Vespucci, 1 1, 400.
AwunoMia, 4 19.
an, suffix, 55.
Analogy necessary in Onomatology,
455, 456-
Ancient tribes, names of, preserved in
modem cities and provinces, 70—
73, 400, 489.
Angel, (coin,) 434.
Angles, The^ 7a
Angles and Danes, 166.
Anglian dialectic forms, 166.
Anglo-Norman nobles in SootlaBd,
192.
Anglo-Saxon names, writers on, 43.
Anglo-Saxons, 117 — 154; connexion
with the Swedes, 119 ; their settle*
ments in France, 131 — 136^ 139
— 147 ; our ignorance of their my-
thology, 320 ; places named fiom
their deities, 320. See Saxons.
'Animals, extinct, traces c^ in local
nameS) 368 ; places named from.
Digitized
by Google
Ittdex II. — Matters.
539
466; names of, their derivation,
414.
Animals, local names derived from,
466.
Apollo, places named from, 334,
'Airoo'icvO£^c(y, 446.
Apple-trees, places in England,
named from, 367, 468.
ar, Celtic preposition, 86, 463.
ar — to plouffh, wide division of the
root, 66, 09.
ar, root, river-names containing it, 216.
Arabic names, 47, 99 — 1 16 ; m Swit-
zerland, 50^ III — 116; in Sicily,
loi ; in Malta, 102, 103 ; in the
Isle of Pantellaria, 103 ; in Spain,
103 — 109; their distribution in
Spain and Portugal, 104, 105 ;
river-names in Spain, 106.
Arabic pato^ in Malta and Gozo,
103.
Arabic words in Italian, loi ; in the
Isle of Pantellaria, 103 ; in Spanish,
109 ; in the patois of Languedoc,
no.
ArabU^ 66.
Arab population in Spain, 104.
Arabs, their conquests, 99 ; their set-
tlements in Southern Italy, 99 ; in
Sicily, 100 — 102 ; in Corsica and
Sardinia, 102 ; in Spain and Portu-
gal, 103—109; in France, 109,
no; in the Alps, in— 116; ety-
mological proofs of their ingenuity,
industry, and science, 419—422.
Arcadian, 444.
Archesy Court of , 451.
Arctic discoveries, 18 — 21.
Arctic exploration, 18 — 20, 34, 35.
ard, Celtic prefix, 226, 476.
Armorican dialect. The, 194.
Arms, 67.
Army, 67.
Aromay 66.
Artesian wells, 429.
Articles, their incorporation with local
names, 384.
Artillery, original meanmg of, 273,
Artois, names in, 132 ; Saxon patro-
nymics in, 491 — 495,
Aryans, The, 67.
Assassin^ 446.
Assemblies, popular, names derived
from their sites, 291.
ath, 483.
Atrebates, The, 71.
Attic (room), 424.
AtHc salt, 444.
Augustus, local names derived from,
317, 385-
Auroch (The), places in Germany
named from, 368.
Australia, Dutch discovery of, 32,
Avars, The, 128.
Avon, a Celtic river-name, 196 — 199.
ay, suffix, 163, 385, 483.
Baal or Bel, 96, 325, 334.
Babel, 450.
Badger (The), places in England
named from, 368, 467.
Baffin, adventures and discoveries of,
19.
BaUiff, 274,
Bairn, 68.
Baize, 426.
Balcony, 273.
Balder, names derived from, 325.
bal, balla, l>ally, Gadhelic root, 119,
247, 248, 484.
balm, 478.
ban — widte, pver-names containing it,
215.
Barb, 415.
Barbarian, 61, 81, 396.
Barbican, 273.
Baron, 68.
barrow, suffix, 123, 476, 486.
Basoues, The, 58, 86.
batch, root, 159, 481.
Batties, sites of, conserved in local
names, 7, 299 — 305.
Baudekin, 42a
Bayeux, Saxon settiement near, 140.
Bayonet, 428.
Bayonne, Norse name near, 189.
Beacon Hills, origin of, 372.
Beaver (The), vestiges of, in local
names, 369, 467.
bee or beck, root, 159, 187, 476, 481.
Bedlam, 451.
Behring, explorations of, 33.
bekr, root, 187.
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540
Index IL — Matters.
Belgse, a Cdtic tribe, 42, 6^, 137.
Belgium, Norse Dame in, 188.
boi, Gadhelic root, 220, 476.
beni, Arabic patronymic prefix, 108,
126, 487.
bere, suffix, 157.
berg, 123, 476.
Berline^ 427.
Bermudas (The), discovery ofi 29.
Bemina (The), Moorish colony in the
valleys of, 11 6.
Bemouse, 426.
beth, 486.
Better, 85.
Biiot, 436.
bil, root, 129.
Billingsgate, 129, 45a '
bir, Arabic prefix, 103, 482.
Bishops* residences, names in London
denved from, 285.
Black men, 80.
blair, 478.
Blarney, 447.
Blenkerism, 439.
bluff, 478.
Boar (The wild), places in England
named from, 368, 466.
Bobby, 432.
bod, Celtic, 229.
Boeotian, 444.
boer, root, 157, 179, 186.
boeuf, suffix, i86» 485.
Bogie, 330.
Bopts^^y),
^emian language, its probable ex-
tinction, 44.
Boil, The, 68, 71.
Bolivar, 74.
Bonnet, 426.
Booth, 157.
bor, 479.
Border-lands or marches, their m-
iluence on local names, 263.
borough, suffix, 123, 476, 486.
bosc, 188.
Bosh, 446.
Bothie, lyj,
bottle, 485.
Bougie, 429.
Boulo£ne, Saxon colony near, 131 — 1 34.
Boundaries, substantival components
denoting, 263, 484. .
Brag, 33a
Braitm, 43a
Brazils (The), Portuguese discoveries
in, 30; origin of the name, 408, 469.
Bratil and Brazil ivood, 408.
Brezonec dialect, The, 194.
Bridges, local names derived from,
253, 483 ; and from their deficiency,
254 ; the art of building them un-
known to the Saxons, 253 ; at one
time known to the Celts, 255;
substantival components denoting
them, 483.
Brigand, 255, 445.
Brigantine, 445.
Britain, name of, 54—56; its Eos-
karian origin, 97 ; Carthaginians
in, 97 ; its earliest intercourse with
civilized nations, 98; names indi-
cating sites of popular assemblies,
291 ; local names derived from
the Scandinavian "things," 292 —
298 ; from battle-fields, 299 ; from
the propagation of Christianity,
3^5. See England.
British chiefs, their names conserved in
local names, 313.
bro, root, 56.
Brooks in London, streets named
from, 317.
brough, suffix, 123, 486.
bryn, Celtic root, names of ridges
containing it, 224, 476.
Buccaneers m the West Indies, 29, 3a
buda, 485.
bue, suffix, ii;7, 186.
buf, suffix, 186.
Bunkum, 446.
burgh, suffix, 123, 258, 486.
Burgher, 68.
Burgonet, 428.
Burud-places of saints, names derived
from, 344.
Burking, 439.
Burlesque, 439.
bum, 481.
bury, suffix, 122 ; denoting fortified
camps, 258, 486.
bus, suffix, 485.
by or byr, root, 157, 158, 164, 166,
167, 172, I79» 186, 485.
Byzant, 433.
Digitized
by Google
Index II. — Matters.
541
Caen, Saxon settlement near, 139 —
142.
caer, or car, Welsh word, 259, 486.
Oesar, Julius, local names derived
from, 318, 385.
Ca^t^ 436.
cala, Arabic prefix, 103.
Calibre^ 428.
Calkoy 419.
cam, root, river-names containing it,
217.
Cambric, 422.
Cambridgeshire fens, changes in, in-
dicated by local names, 354.
camp, Anglo-Saxon word, 305.
CampaniU, 429.
Camps, ancient, local names derived
from, 258, 303 ; indicated by suffix
"bury, '^258.
Canaanitish names in Palestine, 3 ;
worship, traces of, in the Old
Testament, 334.
Canada, curious transformation of
names in, 391.
Candy sugar, 409.
Cannibal, 446.
Canter, 448.
Cap and Cape, 346.
Cape Wine, 410.
Carabine, 428.
Carausius, 136, 139.
Carp, 416.
Carraways, 408.
carrick, Gadhelic root, 225, 476.
Carronade, 429.
cartha, Phoenician root, 94, 486.
Carthage, Tyrian colony of, 94, 95.
Carthaginians in Spain, 96, 97 ; i«
Britain, 97, 98.
caster, its meaning in local names,
259, 486 ; its value as a testword^
259.
Castile, its name indicative of a
border kingdom, 263.
Caucasus, ethnology of, 48.
Causativeness, changes arising from,
387.
cefn, Cymric root, names contaming
it, 218, 476.
Celtic deities, local names derived
from, 323.
Celtic language, its dialectic diifert
ences, 193; its gradual extinction
in England, 241.
Celtic names in mountain districts,
48 ; in Switzerland, ib, ; in Wales
and Ireland, 119; in Scotland,
170, 171.
Celtic names : their antiquity, 194 ;
their prevalence as names of large
towns, 243 ; estimate of their preva-
lence in England and Ireland, 244 ;
prevalence of Celtic river-names,
194 — 218; phonetic changes in,
388.
Celtic origin of English agricultural
terms, 160.
Celts (The), traced by local names,
42, 60, 63—65, 193—248; divided
into two great branches, 193 ; once
the dominant race of Europe, 194 ;
traces of this in the river-names,
195 ; in the names of mountains
and hills, 218 ; of strongholds,
221 ; of rocks and combes, 224 ;
of dwellings, 228 ; of valleys and
plains, 229 ; their distribution in
Europe and Galatia, 232 ; summary
of the evidence from their local
names, 235 ; their settlements in
German^r, 235 ; in France, 237 ; in
the British Isles, 240 ; compared
with the Saxons and Danes, 244 ;
their connexion with bridge-build-
ing* 255-
Celts, Gadhelic, their course traced
by local names, 232.
cenn, Gadhelic root, names containing
it, 221, 476.
Chaffer, 373.
Chalcedony, 417.
Chalybeate, 4x8.
Changes, phonetic, in local nomen-
clature, 378; among unlettered
nations, 379 ; in territorial sur-
names, 381 ; from converting
sounds into words, 386 ; from cau-
sativeness, 387 ; from converting
words into sounds, Celtic, 388 ;
Anglo-Saxon and Norse, 389;
French and Norman, 390 ; in
Canada, 391.
Channel Islands, their village-names
all derived from saints, 248,
Digitized
by Google
S42
Index IL — Matters.
Chap. Zn-
Chapd, 346.
Chapman, 373.
Charlatan^ 432.
chart, 360, 479.
Chartreuse, 4 1 3.
Chatti, The, 71, 128.
Cheap, 373.
Cherry, 403.
Cheshire, Norse colony in, 175.
Chess, origin of the terms in, 471.
Chester, its meaning; in local nomen-
clature, 259, 486; its value as a
test- word, 259 ; generally found
with a Celtic prefix, ib.
Chestnut^ 404.
Chevaux de Frise, 428.
Chevy, 448.
Chian wine, 4 TO.
China, name of, 75. .
chipping, market-place, names de-
rived from, 373.
chlum, 477.
Chocolate, 407.
Christianity, vestiges from local names
of its early propagation in Britain,
335.
chy, 219.
Cimbri in Italy, 51.
Cities, names of regions, &c derivied
from, 74 ; their history perpetuated
in their street-names, 290; names
of ancient tribes preserved in, 72,
489.
Civilization, its history derived firom
local names, 8.
Clan, 126.
Clans, Teutonic, 127 — 130.
Claret, 410.
Classical authors, their fanciful deri-
vations, 433.
Classic mythology, local names de-
rived from, 333.
Classification of Norse names, 182.
clere, suffix, 190, 486.
clith, root ; river-names containing it,
217.
clon, 478.
clough, 484.
Coach, 427.
Coast men, 87.
Cocoa, ^o^.
coed, Celtic word, 362, 479.
Coffee, 407.
Coins, etymology of their names, 433.
Coldharbour, origin of the name,
255 ; its frequency on Roman roads,
^56.
colonia, names derived from, 262.
Colonies, intrusive, local names de-
noting them, 270.
Colonies, isolated, 38.
Colonies of the French, 7, 25, 26 ; of
the English, 22, 26, 27 ; of the
Dutch, 27, of the Spanismis, 25 ;
ditto in the Pacific, 29, 30; Swedi^
27 ; of the Portuguese, 30, 31 ; of
the Germans in North Italy, 50, 51,
147 ; of the Phcenicians, 89 ; of
the Moors in the valleys of the
Alps, III — 1 16 ; of the Northmen,
183; in Pembrokeshire, 176; in
Cheshire, 175; of the Saxons in
Gaul, 133, 142, 153.
Colonization, history of, la
Colonization of America, 9 ; German,
in France, 142; Scandinavian,
character of, 126.
Colour, adjectival compounds de-
noting it, 471.
Columbus, local memorials of, 11, 12.
combe, Saxon word, English names
containing it, 226, 48a
Commerce, its influence on local
names, 372.
Comparison of names in the Old
World with those in the New, 40,
41. 456, 457.
Compass, points of tlie, 142.
Component elements of local names,
195, 460; adjectival, 463; sab-
stantival, 476.
Compostella, Danish fleet destroyed
at, 188.
condate, 482.
Confederations of Teutonic invaden,
146.
Configuration, adjectival oompoimds
denoting it, 470.
Contraction, its influence on phonetic
changes, 381.
Cook, Captain, discoveries of, 33.
Coolie, 443.
Copper, 417.
Digitized
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Index II. — Matters,
543
CordwaineTy 421*
Corncrake^ 292.
Cornwall, N^orthmen in, 17S; lan-
guage of, 242 ; local names in, 228 ;
derived from places of assembly, 292.
Corruptions from changing sounds
into words, 386 ; from mistakes or
misconceptions, 400; legends arising
from, 392.
Corsair^ 446.
Corsica, settlements of the Phoeni-
cians in, 93 ; of the Arabs, 102.
Cossacks, The, 81.
cote, Anglo-Saxon, 363, 486.
Couch, 427.
Counties of England, named from
cities, 74; divided into hundreds,
191 ; into wapentakes, ib, ; ethnic
names of, 267.
Countries named from cities, 74 ;
from rulers and founders, 74, 75.
court, Anglo-Norman suffix, 190.
craig, Cymric, a rock, names of places
containing it, 225, 477.
Crane (The), places in England named
from, 368*
crau, 225, 477.
Cravat f 425.
Crayon, 417.
creek, Dutch origin of, in American
river-names, 28.
Cretaceotts, 4x7.
Crete, conquest of by the Dorians, 61 ;
Phcenician settlements there, 91, 92.
0^»,437.
crick, 477.
Croak, 292.
Crutch, 281.
Cufic Coins^ 454.
Curofoa, 413.
Currants, 407.
cwm, Celtic root, 226, 480.
Cymri, The, 58, 71, 84 ; their course
traced by names of places, 232 ;
their settlements in Europe, 232,
235; their immigration into (Jcr-
many, 236 ; from North Italy, 236 ;
their settlements in England and
Wales, 241 ; in Scotl^d, 944 ;
their limits there defined, 246.
Cjrmric dialect, The, 194.
Cypress, 409.
dagh, suffix, 477^
dale, suffix, 160, 48a
Dalmatic, 421.
Damask, 420.
Damask rose, 406.
Damson, 405.
Danelagh, The, 168, 183, 294—297.
Danes : London besieged by them,
164 ; their settlement in the South-
East of England, 163 — 166 ; in
Lincolnshire, 167; in Oxfordshire,
168; in Exeter, 179; in Somerset-
shire, 178 ; in Devonshire, 179; in
Dorsetshire, 180 ; in Hampshire, i^, ;
in the South of England, 180, 181 ;
in Ireland, 181, 182 ; in France,
184—189 ; the conflicts with them
preserved in the names of places,
302—305.
Danish fleet destroyed at Compos-
tella, 188.
Danish names in France, 140, 184 —
189.
Danish names, distribution of, 168,
183; compared with Saxon and
Celtic names in England, 244.
Date of the first Teutonic settlements
in England, 136 — 139.
Davis, John, his discoveries, 19.
Ddftvare, 423.
Demijohn, 429.
den, Celto-Saxon root, 360, 480*
Derrick, 431.
Derwent, meaning of, 200.
Descriptive names, 4, 5, 471.
Deuce, 330.
Deutsche, The, 59.
Devil (The), legends attaching to
places named after him, 328 ; origin
of his synonyms ** Old Nick *' and
"Old Scratch," 329.
Devizes, derivation of the name, 267.
Devonshire, the Danes in, 179, x8o;
Scandinavian colony there, 296.
Dexter, 76.
deyr, Arabic prefix, 103, 488.
dhu — ^black, river-names containing
it, 215.
Dialect, Anglian, 166.
Diaper, 422.
Diet, 292.
Dimity, 42 1 »
Digitized
by Google
544
Index IL'-Matters.
Distribution of Danish names, i68,
183.
Documentary evidence necessary m
Onomatology, 455.
dodd, 478.
Doiley^ 429.
doL, Celtic root, 160, 223, 478, 48a
Dollar, 433.
Donu, 113.
Don as a river-name, 207 ; its pro«
bable signification, 207 ; its exten-
sive prevalence, 208.
dorf, 119.487.
Dorsetshire, Danes in, 180.
Douane, 108.
dour, 199.
Dragoftwortj 408.
Drake, Sir Frauds, adventures of,
21.
^^'^'gg^t 426.
drum, prefix, 476.
Vucat, 434.
Duck (cloth), 423.
Duke, 263.
Dumfriesshire, Northmen in, 172.
dun, Celtic root, names of fortresses
containing it, 221, 477, 487.
Dun cow (The), legend of, 393.
Duplicate names of nations, 57.
dur or dwr, root, 199, 202; river-
names containing it, 299 ; its pro-
bable source, 207.
Dutch, colonies of, in North and
South America, 27; their dis-
coveries in the Eastern ocean, 31 ;
their discovery of Australia, 32;
origin of the name, 59.
Dwellinp;s, substantival components
denotmg them, 123, X57, 228, 484.
dwr, Welsh word for water, 199, 207,
259, 481.
Dyer, George, his etymological absur-
dities, 454.
Dyl^es, Saxon, account of, 256 ; names
of places derived from, 256, 484.
^fl^<p(coin), 434^
Earnest, 66, 67.
Earnings, 67.
Earth, 66.
Easter, 326.
Eastern mythology, local names de-
rived from, 333.
Eastern Ocean, Dutch discoveries in
the, 31,
Edomites, the, 79.
Eigil, names derived from, 328.
Elements of local names, 46a
Elizabethan era and its worthies, 18.
21. ^
Elk (The), places in Germany named
from, 368.
Emperors of Rome, local names de-
rived from, 317.
en, suffix, 151, 152.
Enclosures, characteristic of the Teu-
tonic race, 118; names denoting
them, 1 1 8— 1 24; substantival com-
ponents denoting them, 484.
England, once Celtic, 42; the land
of enclosures, 117, 119 ; date of
Teutonic settlements there, 136—
139 ; Normans in, 189—192 ; Nor-
man-French names in, ib. ; Celtic
river-names in, 195 ; those contain-
ing the root afon, 196, 197 ; dur,
199 ; stour, 201 ; uisge, 202 ; gwy,
or wy, 205 ; rhe, 206 ; don, 209 ;
garw, all, 214; ban, dhu, llevn,
linn, 215 ; tam, ar, 216 ; cam, clith,
217 ; names of ridges containing the
root cefn, 218; of hills with the
root pen, 219; cenn, 221 ; names
of fortresses containing the root
dun, 222 ; of headlands with bryn
and ros, 224 ; craig and tor, 225 ;
ard, 226 ; combe, ib, ; tre, 220 ;
bod and llan, 229 ; man and nant«
230 ; gwent, 231 ; estimate of the
Celtic element in, 240; the retro-
cession of the Celts in, 241 ; traces
of its universal occupation by them,
242 ; comparison of the Celtic ele-
ment in, with the Saxon and Norse,
244 ; Roman names in, rare, 249 ;
examples of Roman constnictive
skill abundant, 250; its ethnic shire
and village names, 267 ; names of
places derived from conflicts wiih
the Danes,- 302—305 ; myths of its
early history, 307 ; eponymic names
derived from the Saxon Conqne&t,
309 — ^313; from British traditioD^
Digitized
by Google
Index II. — Matters.
545
313 ; from the propagation of Chris-
tianity, 335 ; geological changes in,
marked by local names, 347 ; forest
districts, traced by ditto, 360—364 ;
its populou&ness in Saxon times,
tested by the hundreds, 365 ; evi-
dence of local names as to its state
of agriculture, 366 ; its vineyards,
367 ; extinct animals, 368 ; iron
mines and salt works, 370 ; its com-
merce, 372 ; Saxon patronymics hi,
identical with those in Artois, 491
— 495 » patronymics in, and in
Germany and France, 496—513.
See Britain.
English Colonies in North America,
22, 26, 27.
English onomatology, books neces-
sary for, 42, 43, 455.
Eostre, Saxon goddess, names de-
rived from, 326.
Epicure^ 43 1.
Epigram on Spencer- and Sandwich,
430-
Eponymic names, examples 0% 305.
Ermine^ 414.
Errand, 67.
Erse dialect, The, 194, 240.
Esk, as a river-name, 302—206, 481.
Essex, Danes in, 164, 295.
etan, suffix, 55.
Ethical terms derived from names of
nations, 435.
Ethiopians (The), 79.
Ethnic names, 53—88 ; obseure origin
of, 53 ; conserved in the names of
cities, 72, 73;. derived from geo-
graphical position, 75 — 78; from
weapons, 82, 147.
Ethnic signification of English shire-
names, 267 ; of various village-
names, 269.
Ethnographic names, 79 — 82.
Ethnology, illustrated by local names,
6, 36 — 52 ; its connexion with hydro-
graphy, 45, 46.
Ethnology of Great Britain, 42,. 242 ;
of mountain districts, 47 — 51; of
Switzerland, 48; of the Isle of
Man, 247.
£tniscans in Switzerland, 49 ; in the
Tyrol, 50.
N
Etymologists, their sources of error
examined, 453.
Europe, meaning of the name, 76 ;
peopled from- the East, 193.
Euskarian origin of the name of
Britain, 97.
Euskarian race, traces of, 41, 48, 55,
56 ; their settlements in France,
Spain, and Portugal, 238.
Excellence, or the reverse, adjectival
compounds denoting it, 469.
Exeter, Danes in, 179.
ey, suffix, 163, 171, 173, 348, 483. .
Fabrics, textile, derivations of the
names of, 419.
Paler nian wine^ 410.
Fallow, 85.
Fare zmdi Farewell, 160.
Farthing, 434,
fell, root, 160, 173, 186, 477.
Fens, names in the, 183, 350; their
reclamation and original state as
shown by local names, 354 — 356.
Ferries, local names in London de-
rived from, 279.
Festivals, names of places derived
from, 12.
Fiacre, 448.
Fi^ld, 160, 360, i^8o.
Field/are, 160.
Fields near London, streets named
after, 275..
Fiend, 441.
Filial and original < settlements
(Anglo-Saxon), 129 — 135..
Fir-trees, their absence from Eng-
land in early times, 367.
Fish, names of, from places, 416, 467.
Flanders, Suevi in, 151^
Flannel, 426.
Flash, 450.
fleet, suffix, 187, 274, 481.
flegg, Norse word, 165^
Flemings (The), in Pembrokeshire^
177 ; evidence of their manufac-
turing industry, . 422. .
fleur, suffix, 187, 481.
fliot, Norse word, 187.
FlilcA, 361.
Florin, 433.
N
Digitized
by Google
.546
Index IL-'-'Matters.
fold, suffix, 121, 486.
force, root,' 160, 173, 481.
ford, suffix, 160, 173, 482, 483.
Fords, loded names derived from,
253 ; these a proof of the deficiency
of bridges, 254 ; substantival com-
ponents denoting them, 483.
Foresters, 86.
Forests, primaeval, their extent dis-
coverable by local names, in Ice-
land, 359; in Holstein, &c., 359;
in the districts south-west of Lon-
don, 360.-; ^ther parts of England,
360, 363 ;'lhe wToresting of the
New Forest, 364; substantival
components "denoting them, 479.
Forstemann, his vialuable "Altdeut-
sches NamenbucK" 455.
Fortresses, Arab, in Sicily, icx>;
Celtic, 221; Saxon, 123, 258;
Roman, 259; Spaiiish,'<263.
forum, Latin woi^ phonetic modi-
fications o( 383.
foss, root, 160, 481.
foss, Saxon synonym for a dyke, 251.
Fox (The), in the Isle of Man, traces
of, 368.
Frane^ 434.
France, mecMaeval extent of, Tcx
Arabs and Moors in, 109, iio;
settlements of Saxons there, 13 1,
139 ; Danish names in, 140 ; Ger-
man colonization in, 142 — 143 ;
German spoken in, 143; German
names in, 46, 141 — 145 ; North-
men in, 184 — 189; Celtic river-
names containing the root afon,
197; dur, 200; uisge, 204; gwy,
206 ; don, 208 ; garw and all, 214 ;
ar, 216; names of mountains con-
tainmg Celtic roots cefh and pen,
219 ; hill forts containing the Celtic
root dun, 222 ; names of places
containing the Cymric root tre, 228;
Uan and Ian, ib. ; the Celtic root
man, 230 ; the Cymric nant, ib, ;
traces of the Celts in the Northern
and Central districts, 237 ; of the
Euskarians, 238 ; patronymics in,
and in England and Germany,
496-513- ^
Franchise^ 438.
Frank, 438.
Franks, The, 70, 71 ; their supre-
macy in the Leyant, 70; their
settlement in Kent, 146; meaning
of the name, 82, 147.
Frea, Saxon deity, places named
after, 322.
French colonies in North America,
7, 25, 26.
French lan^age, German words m-
trxxiuced mto the, 142.
Friae (architectural), 424.
Friae (cloth), 423.
Frisian settlements in Yorkshire, 138,
139-
Frobisher, Martin, his discoveries,
18.
Frontiers, their influence on local
nomenclature, 265.
Fruits^ derivations of the names of,
401.
-^«^f^, 439-
Fugitives, names meaning 6u
Fustian^ 421.
Gadhelic names, where found in Eng-
land, 204, 233.
Gadhelic tongue. The, 194.
gadir, root, 95, 486.
Gaelic Celts, their course traced by
local names, 234.
Gaelic tongue^ The, 194, 240.
Gaels, The, 64, 65 ; their occupation
of Europe, 233, 235 ; of Galatia.
234 ; their immigration into Ger-
many, 235 ; their limits in the
British Isles defined, 244.
ral, root, 64.
Galatia, settlement of Celts in, 234.
Galilee (porch), 451.
Galliffoskim, 425.
Galldches, 425.
Galloon^ 423.
GiUhp, 448.
Galloway (horse), 416.
Galvaniimy 431.
Gamboge, 409.
ganga, 481.
gardr, 185.'
garth, root, 19 1, 159, 1 85, 486W
garw, root, river-names containing it,
196, 214.
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Index II. — Matters.
547
Gasconade^ 439.
gate, its varioos meflnings in local
names, 251,253, 483.
gau, Teutonic suffix, 119, 134, 264,
479.
Gaul, andent, towns or rivers there
containing the root dur, 201 ; Saxon
colonies in, 143, 153.
Game^ 41a
gay, suffix, 134.
gebel, Arabic prefix, 100^ I03, 104,
"3» 476.
Geographical botany, 403.
Geographical considerations necessary
in Onomatology, 454.
Geographical position, its bearing
upon local names, 75 — 78, 462,
463.
Geological terms, local origin of, 418.
Geological value of local names, 4.
Geology, its operations chronicled by
local names, 347 — 358.
German colonies in North Italy, 50^
51 ; in France, 142-^144.
German,etymologyof thename, 59, 6q.
Gennan language, encroachment of,
43, 4^; spoken in France^ 143;
in North Italy, 147.
German nations, phonetic tendencies
amongst, 383.
German Onomatology, 455.
German village-names in France,
46; 141 — 145; 496—513; in North-
em I tidy, 46.
German woids introduced into the
French language, 142.
Germany, river names in, containing
the Celtic root afon, 198; dur, 201 ;
stour, 202 ; uisge, 205 ; gwy or
wy, 206; rhe or rhin, 207; don,
208 ; ban, 215 ; ar, 217 ; cam, 217 ;
strongholds containing the Celtic
root dun, 221 ; ridges containing
bryn, 224 ; headlands containing
the root ros, 225 ; prevalence in, of
the Gadhelic root magh, 232 ; im-
migration of Gaels and Cymry, 235;
of the Germans, 236; places in,
named from popular assemblies,
292 ; from extinct animals, 368 ;
from iron and salt works, 370 ; saw
upon its vine districts, 412.
.N N.2
ghar, Arabic prefix, 103, 488.
Ghost, 465.
Gibberish, 439.
Gilbei^ Sir Humphrey, death of,
21.
gill, 480, 48g.
Gin, 413.
Ginger,, 409.
Gingham, 423.
Gi^es, route by which they entered
Europe, 57; erroneous etymology
of their various designations, 400.
Girondists, 451.
Gobelin tapestry, 430.
Gotlre, 437.
Goliath, a Viking, 161.
Good Hope, Cape of, Portuguese dis-
covery of; 31.
gora, Sclavonic root, 84, 476.
gorod, 121, 486.
Gossamer, 330.
Gothic, ^Z^. . , , ,
Gothic architecture, misappucation of
the term, 435.
Goths, The, 58, 71—80.
Gozo, patois of, 103.
grad, Sclavonic suffix, 121.
Greece, Sclavonic names in, 46.
Gre^ The, 54, 87; their slaves,
442.
Greengage, 406.
Greenland, a Norse name, 10.
Grenade, 428.
^Greyhound, 415.
^* Grimm's law" of phonetic change,
382.
Groat, 434.
Grog, 413.
Grogram, 413.
Groschen, 434.
Groves, sacred, local names derived
from their sites, 331.
guad, Arabic prefix, 106, 480.
Guelder rose, 406.
Guernsey lily, 406.
Guilder, 434.
Guillotine, 431.
Guinea, 433.
gut, Kentish form of gate, 253, 483.
Guy of Warwick, origin of the legend
of» 393-
Gwent, aadent kingdom of^ 231 ;
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548
Index IL — Matters.
meaning of the word, 231, 259,
478.
gwy or wy, names of rivers and
aquatic animals derived from, 202,
206.
Gypsum^ 418.
Hack, 428.
Hackney coachj 428.
Hadrian's Wall, its course traced by
local names, 257.
haffen, Norse word, 187, 488.
haigh, suffix, 122, 485.
ham, suffix, prevalence of in England,
123, 129, 138, 152, 484.
Hampshire, the Danes in, x8o.
Harald 'Hardrida, 7 ; runic kiscrip-
tion by, 156.
HarUquitty 432.
Harness^ 67.
Harrow, 66.
hart, 360, 479.
Hasting, the renowned Viking, 189^
hatch, 484.
. haugh, suffix, 160, 173, 188, 477.
haugr, root, 174, 188.
haus, 485.
haw, 480.
Hawthorn, 122.
hay, suffix, 122, 485.
Hayward (surname), origin of, 561.
Heal, 327.
Heathenism,Saxon, vestiges of in local
names, 320 ; Celtic, 325 ; Scandi-
navian, 327; Sclavonic, 333;
Eastern and Classical 334 ; Canaan-
itish, ib.
Hebrides, names in the, 171, 172.
Hectoring, 439.
Hedge, 122.
Hed, 327.
heim, suffix, 124, 152, 484.
Hel, Pagan deity, names derived
from, 327.
Hellespont, Norse name on the, 189.
Heht, 443.
hem, suffix, 152.
Hengist and Horsa, names of places
derived from, 309.
Hercules, places named from, 334.
Hermit missionaries, names in Scot-
tish Islands derived from, 337^
Hero, 67.
Hidalgo, 436.
Highlanders, 84.
Hills, reduplication of synonyms in
their names, 212.
Hills, substantival components de-
noting them, 476.
hippo, root, 96, 487.
Hispano- Arabic names, character of,
108.
Historical considerations necessary in
Onomatology, 454,
Historical information derived from
local names, 5 — 8.
Historic sites, local names derived
from, 290 — ^319.
hithe, 279, 351, 488.
Hithes, or landing-places in London,
streets named from, 279.
hlaw, Anglo-Saxon, 212.
Hficings, The, 128.
Hock wines, their inappropriate de-
signation, 412.
hof, Norse, 331.
hofn, Norse word, 187.
Holbom (London), etymology of, 277.
Holdemess, Teutonic settlers in, 138^
139.
holl, root, 17a
Hollands, 413.
holm, Norse root, meaning of, 163,
174, 180, 187, 4J83.
holt, root, 188, 360, 479.
Home, 124,
hoo, 478.
horn, 478.
Horses, breeds of, named from places,
415.
horst, root, 148, 479.
Hospitallers (The), languages or
nations of, 71.
Houses of historic families in London,
286, 287.
how, root, 170, 178, 477.
Howard (surname), origin of, 361.
hoy, root, 170.
Hreppar, districts of Iceland so called,
100, 192.
Hudson, his discoveries, 19, 2a
Htdl, 327.
Humboldt, Wilhelm von, his investi-
gations, 41, 239.
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Index II. — Matters.
549
Humbugs 446.
Hundreds, counties divided into, 191 ;
the populousness of Saxon England
shown by the size of these, 365.
Hungary, 68, 71 ; ethnology of, 45.
Hungary Water ^ 412.
Huns, the, 71 ; their settlements in
Switzerland, 50 ; in Eagland, 269.
Huntingdonshire, fens of, changes in
them indicated by local names, 354.
hurst, suffix, 360, 479.
Hustings,, 294.
Hybrid composition, theory of, 210.
Hyde, Saxon imit of land, 192.
iacum, Celtic suffix, phonetic changes
in, 385.
Ibenans, The, 41 ; traces of the
Iberic race, 49, 55, 56 ; their settle-
ments in France, Spain, and Por-
tugal, 238.
Iceland, Christian names in, 174 ;
districts of, called Hreppar, i6i3,
192 ; its ThingvelliV, or council-
plains, 293 ; its extinct forests in-
dicated by local names, 359.
Icelings, The, 128.
Immigration, Saxon, an immigration
of clans, 126, 127.
Immutability of local names, 376.
inch, Gaelic, 171, 351, 483.
Inclosures, names denoting them, 118
— 125; substantival components
indicating them, 484.
Incongruity of names in the United
States, 457.
Indian names in North America, 16 ;
their ethnological significance, 17,
37.
IndigOy 409.
Indra, Indian deity, identical with
Anglo-Saxon Thunor, 323.
ing, ingen, German suffix, 125 — 124,
151, 152, 479, 487; the phonetic
changes of it, 142.
Inheritance^ 66.
innis, Gadhelic, 171, 404, 213, 483.
Inns, signs of, curious transformations
in, 399. ^
Inlets, local names given to, 416.
Interchange of Anglo-Saxon suffixes,
380. '
Intrusive colonization indicated by
local names, 270.
Inventions named from places and
persons, 427 — ^432.
inver, Gadhelic root, 245, 482.
Investigation of names, rules to be
observed in, 453.
Ireland, Celtic names of, 119; Norse
names in, 181, 182 ; Celtic river-
names in, containing the root afon,
197 ; dur, 200 ; uisge, 203 ; rhe,
207; don, 209; garw, 214; all,
ban, llevn, linn, 214, 215 ; ar, 216;
cam, clith, 217 ; rocks containing
the root craig, 225 ; the Celtic ard,
226 ; names with the Gadhelic root
magh, 232; comparative table of
its races, 244.
Iron, the name of a Caucasian tribe,
67.
Iron mines indicated by local names,
370-
Islands joined to the mainland, evi-
dence of, in local names, 280, 346
— 356 ; substantival components
denoting them, 483.
Italian, Arabic words in, io\.
Italy, German names in, 46; Scla-
vonic names in (North), 50; Ger-
man colonies in (North), 50, 51 ;
Cimbri in, 51 ; Phoenician names
in, 93 ; Arabs in (South), 99 ;
Saxon and Lombard names in, 147 ;
Norse names in, 188 ; Celtic river-
names in, containing the root afon,
199 ; dur, 201 ; uisge, 205 ; rhe,
207 ; don, 208 ; ar, 217 ; clith, ib,
mountain-names with the root pen,
219 ; strongholds with root dun,
222 ; Cymric root tre, in names of
places, 229 ; Celtic root man, 230 ;
C)rmri in North Italy, 236 ; me-
diaeval republics of, 424.
Italy (North), names from the manu-
factures of, 424.
"Jack and Jill," origin of, 330.
Jacket^ 430.
yacQdins, 451.
VflA 407.
James ist, colonization in the reign of,
22, 26.
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iTtdex IL — Matters.
James River, English colonization on
it&bank^ 22.
?n7U (coin), 434.
ean, 421.
^'Jeddart justice,'' 445.
^Hef, 416.
Jerusalem arddioke, curious corrup-
tion of- the term, 406.
>/, 418.
Jews in Comwall> 97.
jeidrah, Arabic, an island, 104, 483.
Julius and Tulia, local names derived
from, 318, 385.
Jutes, The, 71, 386.
Jutland, names in, 148* ; derivation of
the name, 586.
kal'ah (or kal*at), Arabic, a castle,
100, 107, 112,487.
Kali, festival of, in the East, 334.
kartha, Phoenician root, 94, 9^> 98,
261, 486.
Kent, Franks in, 146.
Kerseymere^ 426.
Kibotus, Varangian guard at^ 189^
kil, root, 119, 336, ^8.
kirk, prefix, 337, 488.
knock, 478.
knott. 477-
Kreutter^ 434^
ky, 229.
Laconic^ 444.
Ladino language, 49.
Lseti, Roman colonists, settlement of,
at Bayeux, 140 ; at Arras, 143.
Lake district of England peopled by
Celts and Norw^^S( 174.
Ian, Celtic root, 229, 478.
Lancashire, the mediaeval condition
of, tested by its local names, 362.
Land^ 229.
Landauy 427.
Landscape, English, chaxacter of,
117.
Landwehr, Prussian, 68»
Langue d'oc, why called the . Ro-
mance language, 438.
Latakia tobacco, 41a
Lawn, 229.
Laszaroni^ 451.
leben, suffix, 119, 487.
Legends and myths arising from cor-
ruptions of local names, 305 — ^308,
327, 344, 392—396.
Legends of saints, names derived
from, 343.
Lqp;ions, Roman, local names derived
from the stations of, 262.
Leif Ericson, discoveries of, la
Leonine verse, 439.
Letters convertible, 382 ; G and W,
64, 65, 68, 71 ; P and F, 138 ; H
and Ch, 360 ; D and G, 373.
leven, smooth, river-names containing
it, 215.
Lewis, meaning of^ 171.
ley, suffix, 310, 360, 479.
Lighthouses, their sites traced by local
names, 371.
Lincolnshire, Danes in, 167 ; changes
in the fens of, indicated by local
names, 354-
Lindsey Wolsey, 426.
linn, a deep still pool, river-names
containing it, 215, 481.
Lions at Venice, Norse runes on,
156.
Liqueurs, derivation of the names of,
413-
lis, prefix, 487.
Litus Saxonicum, 135, 137, 159, 141.
llan, root, 119, 229, 336, 488,
llevn, smooth, 215.
Ilwch, root, 227.
Loadstofie, 417.
Local names derived from penonal
names, loi, 127, 174, 185, 191,
192, 284—289, 305—319. 328—
345, 385.
Lombards, The, 71 ; meaning of the
name, 82, 147 ; their settlement in
London, 282 ; their commercial en-
terprise, 439 ; various words derived
from their name, 440.
London, taken by the Saxons, 137,
139 ; besieged oy the Danes, 164 ;
its history traced \3y its street-
names, 272 — 289 ; its original
shape and area, 275 ; the brocks,
277 ; the monasteri^ 280 ; dis-
tricts of, originally islands, 280^
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Index II. — Matters.
55 1
347 ; residences of historic families,
2S4 — 288 ; traces of ancient forests
in the names to the south-west,
360; the persistency of its name,
377 ; curious transformations in the
names of its streets, 393.
low, suffix, 211, 477.
Lowlanders, S4, 85.
Lumber^ 440.
lundr, Norse word, 339, 48a
Lynch law^ 439.
MeuadamiiatioHy 431.
Mackintosh^ 430.
Magalhaens, discoveries o( 28.
Magazine^ 108.
magh, Gadhelic test-word, 232 — 2^
479.
Magnet, 417.
Magnitude, relative, adjecti^'al com-
ponents denoting it, 462.
Mahrattas, The, 81.
Majolica^ 429.
Majolus, St., taken prisoner by the
Arabs, ill.
Malmsey wine, 411.
Malta, Phoenicians in, 93; Arabic
names in, 103, 104 ; patois of, 103;
siege of, 315.
Manganese, 417.
man, Celtic root, 230, 259, 479.
Man, Isle of, NorUimen in, 6 ; Nor-
wegian names in, 172 ; comparative
table of its races, 244 ; its eth-
nology, 247; the Norse "Thing"
still retained there, 297 ; the lox
anciently found in, 368.
manor, Anglo-Norman suffix, 190.
Mansarde roof, 431.
Mantua maker, 424.
Manufactures, derivation of the names
of; 419-^^430.
Manx, language, The, 194, 240.
Map, showing the ethnology of the
British Isles, i ; the distribution of
Arabic names in Spain and Portu-
gal, 105 ; of the German patro-
nymic names in France, 145; of
Saxon names in Picardy and Artois,
132 ; Norse names in France, 184.
Marches, or border lands, their influ-
ence on local names, 263.
March, indicative of boundaries or
frontier lands, 265.
Mare, 264.
Margrave, 263.
Mark, 434.
Mark, indicative of boundaries or
frontier lands, 263 — 266.
Marquis, 263.
Marions (The), of Auvcrgne, no, 437.
marsa (or miisah), Arabic, a port,
100, 102, 488,
Martd, Charles, 109.
Martinet, 431.
Massachusetts, laws of, 14, 15.
mawr, 221, 462.
Mayduke. cherries, 403.
Meander, 45a
medina, Arabic, a ci^, 107, 487.
Meeting^ derivation 01 the word, 294.
meiek, a root, found in all Semitic
languages, 94.
menril, Arabic prefix, lOi, 487.
Merchants, local names derived from,
3S, ^3, 374.
mere, 482.
Merino, 421.
Mesmerism, 431.
Mills, -words denoting, 487, 488.
Milliner, 424.
Minaret, 108.
Minerals, derivation of the names of,
416.
Mineral springs, local tiames derived
from, 465.
minster, 345, 488.
Mint, 434.
mirsah (or marsa), Arabic soot, a port,
100, 102, 488.
Misnomers arising from misconcep-
tions, 400.
Missionaries, Irish) traces of, in the
Islands of Scotland, 280, 337.
moel, 478.
Mohair, 421.
Monasteries in London, streets named
from, 280.
Monastic system, its influence on local
names, 345.
Money, 4^4.
money, 480.
Mons Palatinus, names derived from,
451.
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552
Index II , — Matters.
mont, 478.
Moorish colony in the-, valleys of .the
Bemina, no.
Moors, The, 79 ; in France, 109 ; in
the passes of the Alps, in — 116;
in Spain, 263.
mor, 221.
Moreen^ 421.
Morris dance^ 450.
Mosquito^ 416.
most, 483.
Mountain districts, %thnology>of, 947 —
52 ; a hindrance to the intermixture
of race and language, 48 ; Celtic
names in, 49.
Mountaineers, 83.
Mountains, names of, derived from
their snowy summits, 5, 473 ;
derived from tumuli, 1 74 ; their
antiquity and immutability, 17, 37,
218 ; derived from their hues, 472 ;
from the shape of their summits,
474 ; substantival components de-
noting them, 476.
muU, 329, 47a
Muskdy 416.
Muslin^ 42a
Mussulman, derivation of the name,
397.
mynvdd, 478.
Mythical ancestors, names and cities
derived from, 305.
Myths and legends evolved from cor-
rupted local names, 392 — 396.
Myths of early Engliiih Ilistory, 307.
Names, ethnic, 53 — 88 ; Hispano-
Arabic, 108 ; ononmtopoeian, 61 ;
personal become local, loi, 127,
174, 185, 191, 192, 284—289, 305
—319, 328—3451 385; eponymic,
305 ; rules for their investigation,
453; patronymic, 125—152; list
of, in England, Germany, and
France, 141, 144, 4.96 ; patro-
nymic, in Artois and in England,
I34» 491.
NankeeUy 419,
nant, Cymric root, 230, 480.
Nations, names of, 53 — 88 ; mean-
ings of, 57—88 ; often duplicate
57 — 60; ethical words derived
from, 435.
NatroHy 418.
Natural productions, adjectival com-
pounds denoting them, 465.
Negroes, The, 79.
Negus, 413.
nemet, Celtic word, 331, 480.
Neptune, places named from, 3^
ness, Norse root, 162, 174, 478.
New England, settlement of, 16.
New Forest, sites of villages depopu-
lated to form it, 364.
Newhaven, laws of, 14.
New Netherlands, Dutch colony of
the, 27.
Nightmare, 330.
NUre, 418.
Norfolk, Danes in, 165.
Norman Conquest, transference of
landed property at the time of the^
189—192.
Normandy, Saxons in, 139—142;
> traces of the Scandinavian con-
quest of, 184 ; Norse names in,
184—188; division of land in,
191.
Norman-French names in England,
189—192.
Normans in England, 189—192 ; in
Scotland, 192.
Norse colony in Cheshire, 1 75.
Norse element in England, compara-
tive summary of, 244.
Norse name off the coast of Portugal,
188 ; near Bayonne, 189 ; on the
Hellespont, ib.
Norse names, 43 ; their classification,
183 ; their occurrence in the Hebri-
des, 171 ; in the Isle of Man, 172 ;
in the Lake district, 173—175 ; in
Devonshire, 1 79 ; in Normandy,
184—188 ; in Belgium, Italy, and
Spain, 188.
Norse orie;in of English seafaring
terms, 1 6a
Northern Seas, discoveries in, 18 —
20.
Northmen (The), discover America,
10; their ravages, 155 — 156; their
settlements in the Isle of Man, 6,
172; in Greenland, 10; in Russia,
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Index II. — Matters.
553
156 ; in East Anglia, 161 ; in
Sutherland, 170; in the Shetlands,
170; in Dumfriesshire, 172; in
Cheshire, 175 ; in Wales, 175 ; in
Sdlly and Cornwall, 178 ; in Ire-
land, 181 ; in France, 184—189 ; in
Sicilv, 189; their "Thinpjs," or
legislative assemblies, 292 ; isolated
colony of, in Devonsliir^, 179, 296.
Norway, peasant nobles of, 40.
Norwegians in Scotland, 169—172 ;
in the Isle of Man, 172; in the
Lake district, 173.
Numerals, adjectival compounds de-
noting them, 464.
Numidians, The, 78.
o, root, 187.
Oazy 67.
Oatis^ 106.
Obscure orie;in of Ethnic names, 53.
oe, suffix, 163, 483.
ofer, Anglo-Saxon suffix, 138, 482.
Ogre, 441.
Old Nicky 12^^,
Old Scratch, 329.
Onomatology, or the principles of
name-giving, 453.
Orellana, his adventures, 29, 30.
Orientals, 76.
Original and filial settlements, 130.
Orkneys (The), names in, 1 70.
ormr (a serpent), 176.
Orrery, 431.
Otlinga Saxonica, district of, 140.
Oxfordshue, Danes in, 168.
Pacific (The), discoveries in, 28, 29 ;
Dutch in, 31, 32.
Pad, Padding, Paducuoy, 424.
Palace, 452.
Paladin, 452.
Palatinate, 452.
Palatine county, 452.
Pale faces, 80.
Palestine, 72 ; traces in the Old Testa-
ment of Canaanitish worship there,
^334- ,
Pallas, places named from, 335.
Pamphlet, 432.
Pantellaria, Isle of, Arabic words and
names in, 103.
para, 481.
Parchment, 429.
park, Celto-Saxon, 122, 485.
Parthians, The, 79.
Pasquinade, 432.
patam, 485.
Patronymic names, 125 — 152 ; corre-
pondence of, on the opposite coasts
of England and France, 141, 142 ;
in Wiirtemberg, 150, 151 ; list of,
in England, Germany, and France,
496 ; Saxon, in Artois and in Eiig-
land, 491.
Peach, 404.
peak, 476.
Peeler, 432.
Peels along the Scotch border, 262.
Pembrokeshire, the Scandinavian set-
tlement on the coast of, 1 76 — 1 78 ;
the colony of Flemings in, 177.
pen, Cymric root, 219, 220, 245, 476.
Penn, William, 15.
Penny, 219, 434.
Persecution by the Puritans, 14.
Personal names become local, loi,
127, 174, 185, 191, 192, 284—289,
305—319, 328—345, 385; words
derived from, 429.
Personal Saxon names conserved in
local names, 313.
Pheasant, 414.
Philistines, The, 72; originally from
Crete, 61.
Phoenician names in Crete, 91, 92;
in Sardinia, 92 ; in Sicily, 93 ; in
Italy, ib, ; in Malta, 93 ; in Spain,
94—96.
Phoenician sites, physical character-
istics of, 89 — 91.
Phoenicians, The, 79.
Phonetic changes in local names, 378;
of H to Ch or W, 128 ; of G and
W, 64, 65, 68, 71.
Phonetic tendencies of different na-
tions, 381—385.
Physical changes attested by local
names, 347.
Physical characteristics of Phoenician
sites, 89, 90.
Physical features, names derived from^ <
3, 83—88, 465.
pic, 476.
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Index IL— Matters.
t^
Picardy, names in, 132.
Pictones, The, 71, 81.
Picts, The, 81 ; a Cjrmric. tribe, 245 ;
their absorption by the Scots, 245 ;
myth arising from the name, 31^;
settlement in Northamptonihire,
270.
pike, 476.
Pilgrim^ 62.
Pilgrim, description of, by Piers
Ploughman* 449.
Pilgrimage, places of^ their influence
on local names, 344.
Pilgrimage, words derived from, 448.
Pin, 202, 219.
Pine-tree, 2.i<^.
Pine-trees, Caesar's statement of their
absence from England corroborated
by local nomenclature, 367.
Pinnacle, 219.
Pistol, 424.
.iz, 476.
^laces, the names of, significant, not
arbitrary sounds I, 454.
Plains, 85 ; substantival components
denoting them, 478.
Plants, derivations of the names of,
404; local names derived from,
468.
Platonic, 431.
Ploughshare, 163.
Poodiontas, the Indian princess, 24.
Poleaxe, 428.
Polecat, 415.
Il6\is, phonetic changes in the word^
384-
Political names derived from local
sources, 451.
Polony, 424.
pont, 254, 483.
Pontresina, Saracen's bridge, in the
passes of the Alps, 1 15 — 116.
Po, River, changes in its delta marked
by local names, 357.
po, preposition, 86, 463.
Popular assemblies, local names de-
rived from their sites, 291.
Population, Arab, in Spain, 104.
Population of England, in Saxon
times, 121 ; changes in, traced by
local names, 363; changes shown
by the size of the hundred 385.
Ports silted np^ evidence o( in local
Portugal, Arabs in^ 103 — 109; dis-
tribution of Arabic names in, 103,
104 ; Norse name off the coast of,
188; Celtic river-names in, con-
taining the root afon, 99; the
Euskarians in, 239.
Portuguese discoveries, 30, 31.
Portways, Roman roads so called,
251.
Port wine, 411.
Position, relative, adjectival comfK)-
nents denoting it, 462.
Potomac (The), explorati<Hi of^ 23.
Pound, 434.
Powhattan, Indian chief, 24.
Prefix (The), as a component element
of Celtic names, 460.
Prepositions, their incorporation with
local names, 384.
Prichard*8 researches, 42.
Property, landed, the transference of^
at the time of the Norman Con-
quest, 189—192.
Provinces, names of ancient tribes
preserved in, 70, 489.
Proximity, the effect of, on names,
88.
Prussia, 86, 413, 447.
Punch, 432.
Puritan persecution, 14.
Puritan Utopia at Newhaven, la«^
of, 14.
Puritans in New England, 15.
puy, 476.
pyr, 219, 475.
Quaker colony in North America,
Quince, 405,
Quixotic, 439.
rahal, Arabic prefix, 103.
rahl, Arabic prefix, loi, 103, 487.
Raindeer, 200.
Raleigh, Sir Walter, discoveries ol,
18.
Rape, The, a memorial of the Con-
quest, 191, 192.
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Index II. — Matters.
S55
Rapes, Siusex divided into, 191.
ras, Arabic prefix, loi, 143, 47$.
rath, prefix, 487.
rea, 200.
Red Men, 80.
Redstart^ 353.
Reduplication of synonyms, exam-
ples of^ in the names of rivers,
210 ; in the names of hills, &c,
213.
R^ons, names of, derived from
cities, 74.
Religious sentiment shown in local
names, 11.
Rennie (surname), derivation of,
174.
Resurrection of disused names, 376.
Retrocession of the Sclaves, 43, 44 ;
of the Celts in Englanc^ 240.
rhedu, 206.
rhe or rhi% river-names containing
it, 206.
Rhode Island, foundation of, by
Roger Williams, 15.
rhos, Celtic root» 224, 482.
Rhubarb, 408.
rhyd, Celtic root, 254, 483,
rhyn, a promontory, 206.
Ridges, names o^ contaming the
root cefn, 218 ; the root bryn, 224 ;
the root hryc& 477.
Riffr^ff^ 446.
rithe, 481.
River-names, Arabic, in Spain, 106.
River-names, 106 ; their antiquity
and permanence, 17, 37, 194, 195 ;
chieny of Celtic denvation, 195 ;
classification of these, substantival,
195 — 214; adjectival, 196, 214 —
218; those containing the Celtic
root afon, 195—199 ; 3ie root dwr,
or dur, 199—202; uisge, 202 —
206 ; gwy, or wy, 205 ; rhe, 206 ;
don, 207 — 209 ; garw, i^, 214 ;
all, 219; ban, dhu, Uevn, linn, 215 ;
tain, 216 ; ar, 216 ; cam, dith, 217 ;
a unique one rarely found, 218 ;
reduplication of synonyms in their
formation, 210.
Rivers, the ancient highways, 45, 46 ;
substantival components denoting
them, 481.
Roads, Roman, local names derived
from, 250 ; their course traceable
by local names, 251.
Rofuls, substantival components de-
noting them, 483.
RoameTf 448.
Roan horse, 416.
Rodomontade, 439.
Roman amw in EngUyid composed
mainly of Germans, 136 ; where
stationed; 259, 262.
Roman emperors, local names de-
rived from, 317,385-
Roman empire, names marking its
boundaries, 266.
Roman road over the Moro, 1 12.
Romanic, 438.
Romance nations, phonetic tendency
amongst, 382.
Romance words introduced into the
Teutonic languages^ 143.
Romani, The, 57.
Romansch language. The, 49, 73.
Romans, their civilization as com-
trasted with that of the Saxons,
249 ; character of their local names,
249 ; essentially a constructive
race, 250 ; places named from their
roads, 250 ; their bridges, 253 ;
their widls, 257; fortresses and
camps, 259 ; stations, 260 ; legions,
262.
Rome, the name of, 54 ; retained in
various parts of the ancient empire,
73-
Romney marsh, its history and
gradual formation illustrated by
its local names, 349.
ros, Gaelic root, 224, 478.
Roum, paschalic of, 73.
royd, 400.
Rubicon, 450.
Rugii, The, 71.
ruimne, Gaelic, a marsh, 349.
Rulers of the ancient world, local
names derived from, 316, 385;
ditto of the modem world, 74,
319.
Rules for the investigation of names,
302, 475-
Rumble, 427.
Rush, 224.
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556
Index II, — Matters,
Russia, Northmen in, 156; river-
names in, containing Celtic root
rhe, 207 ; don, 208.
Saas, valley of, 113, 114.
Sable, 4 1 5.
^flr^(Wine), 411.
Sacred groves and temples, names
derived from, 331.
Saetere, Saxon deity, doubts r^;ard-
ing, 321 ; places named after, 322.
Saints, legends of, their influence on
names of places, 343 ; influence of
their burial-places on ditto, 344.
Saints, local, their influence on
names of places, 338 — 343.
Saints' names, the process of creating
them, 389, 392.
Saints, places named after, 11 — 13.
sail, 486.
Sally, 445-
Salt-making, 162.
Salt-works, their influence on local
names, 370.
Samaritarty 444.
Samian wine, 4 10
Sandwich, 430.
Saracens, The, 72, 115.
Saratz, family name in Switzerland,
Sarcenet, 420.
Sardine, fish, 416.
Sardine, stone, 4 1 6.
Sardinia, Phoenician settlements in,
92 ; Arab settlements, 102.
Sardonic smile, 445.
Sardonyx, 416.
Saunterer, 447.
Saveloy, 424.
Saxon and Lombard names in Italy,
147.
Saxon chiefs, eponymic names de-
rived from, 309—315.
Saxon Chronicle (The), instances of
eponymic names from, 307.
Saxon deities, local names derived
from, 320.
Saxon element in England, com-
pared with the Danish and Celtic,
244 ; comparative summary of,
245.
Saxon, meaning of the term, 147.
Saxon patronymic names, list of^ in
Artois and m England, 491.
Saxons, The, 71, 82, 148; their co-
lony in Siebenbiirgen, or Transyl-
vania, 46; their immigration an
immigration of clans, 126, 127;
their colony near Boiilogne, 131 —
134 ; their conquest of England,
136---139 ; London taken by them,
I37» 139 J ^eir settlement near
Caen, 139 — 142 ; transported Into
France by Charlemagne, 143, 153 ;
their original seat, 153 ; tiieir co-
lony in Gaul 153 ; their civiliza-
tion as contrasted with that of the
Romans, 249 ; their names for Ro-
^an roads, 250 ; their ignorance of
bridge-building, 253 ; their ram-
parts or dykes their only great
works, 256; their local names in-
dicating Dorder lands, 264.
scale, Norse word, 296, 486.
Scaletta Pass, 116.
Scandinavian colonization, character
of, 126, 127.
Scandinavian element, relative inten-
sity of, in England, 182, 183.
Scandinavian legends, local names
derived from, 327.
Scandinavian names, writers on, 43.
scar, Norse root, 163, 478.
Sckeidam, 4 1 3.
Schwabenland, meaning of^ 149.
Scilly, Northmen in, 178.
Sclaves, retrocession of the, 43, 44.
Sclavonians, The, 58.
Sclavonic deities, local names derived
from, 333.
Sclavonic names, 43; in Hanover,
44 ; in Greece, 46 ; in North Italy,
^o ; their illustration of Sdavooic
history, 45.
Sclavonic races, their history dis-
closed by the word slave, 441.
Score, 163.
Scotland, Norse names in, 169 ;
Norwegians in, 170 — 172; Celtic
names in, 170, 171 ; the Normans
in, 192 ; An^lo-Norman nobles in,
ib, ; Celtic nver-names in, contain-
ing the root afon, 197 ; dur, 199 ;
Digitized
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Index II. — Matters.
557
uisge, 203; rhe, 207; don, 209;
garw, 214; all, ban, dhu, llevn,
linn, 214, 215 ; tain, 216 ; ar, 216 ;
dith, 217 ', mountain names con-
taining the roots pen, ben, and
cenn, 219; forts with the root dun,
223 ; headlands with the root ros,
224 ; aid, 226 ; llan or Ian, 229 ;
names in, derived from places
of assemblv, 291, 295 ; from local
saints, 338; local names proving
its recent geological elevation, 353.
Scots, The, 70, 79 ; their immigration
from Ireland, 245.
Scottish surnames, 192.
Scudo (coin), 434.
Scythians, The, 81.
Seafaring words, English, Norse
origin of, 160.
Seals on the Sussex coast, indications
of, 351-
Seat^ 69.
Sedusiveness of Englishmen, 118.
Sects, religious, nomenclature of, 43 1.
Sedan, 427.
Seneh or Senna^ 408.
&^, 442. , . . .
Servile races, names- derived from,
set, suffix, 69, 485.
Seter, Noree sufl&x, 170, 182, 485.
Sette Communis 51.
Settlements, original and filial, 129.
Shallot^ 407.
Shalloon^ 43^.
Shamoy leather ^ 415.
shaw, root, 188, 363, 480.
Shawly 410.
Shears^ i^.
Shepherds, The, 85.
Sheriff, 274.
Sherry t 411.
ShetlandJs, names in the, 170.
ShilUlah, 428.
ShUling, 434.
Shire, 163.
Shire names of England, their ethnic
signification, 267.
Shore, 163.
Shrubs, nlaces, named from, 468.
Sicily, Pnoenician names in, 93 ; the
Arabs in, 100 — IQ2; Arabic local
names in, loi ; the Northmen in,
189.
Siebenbiirgen, isolated Saxon colony
in, 46.
SiennOy 418.
sierra, mistaken etymology of, 477.
Significancy of local names, i, 454.
"XucOdCfof, 444.
Silhtmette, 431.
Silk, 427.
SUlery wine, 410.
Sites, historic, local names derived
from, 290 — 319.
Sites of popular assemblies, names
from, 291.
Sites, sacred, names from, 321—346.
Size, adjectival components denoting,
462.
Skewer, 163.
Skipper, 68.
skogr, root, 188.
Slang, 45a
Slave, 441.
sliabh or slievh, Erse, 348, 477.
slieu, Manx prefix, 248, 477.
Smith, CapL Jno., his adventures in
Hungary and Virginia, 22 — 24.
Snow, mountain-names derived from,
5. 473.
Sodor and Man, See of, 172.
soke^ 295.
Somersetshire, Danes in, 178; its
physical changes shown by local
names, 351.
SovereignXcom), 434.
Sovereigns, modem, local names
derived firom, 35, 319.
Spa, 418.
Spain, Phoenicians in, 94 — 96; Car-
thaginians in, 95, 96 ; Arabs in,
103 — 109 J distribution of Arabic
names in, 103—109; Arab popu-
lation in, 104 ; Arabic river-names
in, 106; Norse names in, 188;
Celtic river-names in, containing
the root afon, 199 ; dur, 201 ;
uisge, 204 ; rhe, 207 ; ar, 216 ;
names of places in, containing the
root tre, 228 ; man, 230 ; Euska-
rians in, 238 ; Moors in, 263.
Spaniards in the Padfic, 29, 30.
Spaniel, 415.
Digitized
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558
Index IL^— Matters.
Spanish, Arabic words iii» 109,
4ai.
Spanish colonies, 25, 29, 30.
Spmcer^ 430.
Spinagt, 407.
Spine, 219.
spitx, 476.
Sports and pastimes, London streets
named after, 284.
Springs, local names derived from,
279, 465.
Spnue, 409, 447.
Spruce beer, 413.
SquitlSy 408.
stackr, root, 174.
stadt, suffix, 119, 485.
Stamford Bridge, battle of; 7, 301.
Stan, 484, 485.
Stannary Court of Cornwall, anti-
quity of, 292.
staple, 374, 487.
Statesmen, local names derived from,
34> 35*
Stations of Roman lemons, local
names derived from, 202.
Stations, Roman, their inflaence on
names, 260.
stead, suffix, 485.
Sieeiyard, 434.
Sterling, 434.
ster, suffix, 170, 182, 485.
stoke, suffix, 121, 485.
stone, 477, 484.
Stour, as a river-name, 201 ; its pro-
bable derivations, 202.
Stonr River, in Kent, its silting up
indicated by local names, 348.
stow, suffix, 485.
strath, 480.
Street-names (The), of London, the
records of its history, 272 — 289;
their curious transformations, 198.
Street, the meaning of, in local no-
menclature, 250, 483.
Strongholds, Cdtic, indicated by the
root dun, 221 ; peel, 262.
Substantival components of local
names, list of, 476.
Substantival element of local names,
195, 460.
Suevi, The, 71, 78, 119; traces of,
in Flanders, 151.
Suffix (The), as a oomponent eknent
of Teutonic names, 460.
Suffolk, Danes in, 165 ; snmanies in,
166; analysis of its local nomen-
clature, 303.
Su^r candy, 409.
Smones, The, 1 19.
Surnames derived firam load soffrsrt,
118, 228.
Somames in Suffolk, 166; Soottislu
19a.
Surrey, analysis of its local nomen-
clature, 363.
Sussex divided into rapes^ 191.
Swabia, patronymic names in, 459.
Swabian patronymics recommoded
for New Anglo-Saxon namcat, 459.
Swabians, The, 78, 119, 12&.
Swanawic, defeat of the Danish fleet
at, 180.
Sweden, names in, 119.
Swedish colonies in America, 37 ; in
Switzerland, 271.
Switzerland^ ethnology of, 48^ 49,
286 ; variety of dialects in, 4S, 49 ;
Alans in, ^O; Celtic names in,
49; Huns m, 50; Etruscans in,
49, 50; Germans in, 50; Arabic
names in, 50^ 1 1 1, 1 16 ; Celtic riTcr-
names in, containing the root ar,
216; strongholds ccmtaining the
Celtic root dun, 221; ridges con-
taining the root biyn, 224 ; head-
lands with the root ros, 224 ; names
61 places containing the Cymric root
nant, 230.
Sybarite, ^U-
Syenite, 418.
Synonyms, Celtic, in the composition
of nver-names, 209 ; examples of
their reduplication, 21a
Tabby, 42a
Table of Norse words in Nofmaa
French, 184.
Table of original settlements and
Mial colonies, 13 1 ; of patronymic
corresponding names in Engiand
and France, 144 ; of patronymic
corresponding names in Eiwiand
:«nd Normandy, X41 ; of &zob
Digitized
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Index II. — Matters.
559
names In Picardy and Artois, and
corresponding English names, 133,
491 ; of Saxon names in France
and corresponding names in Eng-
land, 134, 496; of the relative
intensity of the Scandinarian ele-
ment in different parts of England,
182.
Taffety, 42a
tain, 207.
taise, 203.
Taith, Celtic deity, names derived
from, 326.
tarn, "spreading,'* river-names con-
taining it, 216.
Tamarind^ 409.
Tarantultt^ 416.
Tarif-Abti-Zardh, invader of Spain,
104.
Tariff, 445.
Tarik-Ibn-Zeyad, invader of Spain,
104.
tarn, suffix, 160^ 481.
Tatar, 444.
Tatars (The), 81 ; mythical- corrup-
of the term, 396. •
Tawdry, 449.
Templar, 451.
Templars, names derived from their
possessions, 281, 346.
Temples, local names derived from
their sites, 331.
Ttnt wine, 410.
Tester, 434.
Teutonic chancnes of Celtic names in
England, 308; on the Continent,
389.
Tentonic dans, 127 — 129; date of
their settlements in England, 136
_— 139. 1
Teutonic demi-gods, names derived
from, 325.
Teutonic laoguages (The), Romance
words intiv^uced into, 143. .
Thaler, 433,
~ "" fabi
419.
Textile fabrics, local namos^given to,
Thames River, changes im its valley
indicated by locu names, 347 ;
the Danes iu the, 164; names in
London derived from its islands,
28a
Theory of hybrid composition, 210.
Thing, 292.
Things or coundls of the Northmen,
load names derived from, 292 ;
in Iceland, 293 ; in Britain, 294 —
298.
Thingvellir (The), or council-plains
of Iceland, 293.
Think, 292.
Thor, Norse deity, popularity of,
evidenced bytlood names 323.
thorpe, suffix, 158, 159, 164, 173,
186, 487.
Thrasymene, Hannibal's victory at,
conserved in local names, 299.
threap, 169.
Thunder, 323.
Thunor or Thor, Saxon deity, his
popularity evidenced by local
names, 296, 323.
thfviraite, Norse suffix, 159, 164, 172,
173, 186, 487.
Ticking, 422.
Tiw, Saxon deity, places named after,
322.
Tobacco, 409.
toft, root, 153, 164, i68, 173, 185,
487.
ton, Anglo-Saxon suffix, 119— 121,
124, 129, 133, 484.
Topaz, 418.
>tor, a projecting rock, names contain-
ing it, 225, 476.
torbe, root, 186.
tot, root, 158, 185, 487.
Toucques River, words derived from,
'tourbe,rToot, 186.
tourp, root, 186.
Tours, battle o( 109.
tra, 482.
Trades in London, streets named
after, 284.
Trajecttts, phonetic dianges in the
word, 385.
Tramroads, 431.
Transformations, phonetic, in local
names, 378 ; etymological ditto,
386.
Transylvania, Saxon colony in, 46.
tre, Cymric prefix, its frequency in
English names, 128, 485.
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by Google
360
Index II. — Matters.
Tredid Comuni, 51.
Trees, places named from, 468.
Tribes, ancient, locality of, discover-
able from names of cities, 72 ;
names of, preserved in modem
cities and provinces, 489.
Tribes, conquering, names of, 70 — 72.
Trojan^ 444.
Troy ueight, 434.
Tucker, 423.
Tumuli, names of mountains derived
from, 174.
Turanian languages. The, 240.
Tureen J 424.
Turk, 444-
Turks, The, 72, 81 ; the name ap-
plied to all Mahomedans, 72.
Turkey, 414.
Turkomans, The, 72.
Turquoise, 417.
Tweeds, 426.
twistle, 484.
ty, Welsh, 229, 340, 485.
Tyrian colony of Carthage, 94, 95.
Tyrol (The), Etruscans in, 50.
uisge, " water," river-names con-
taining it, 202.
um, suffix, the Frisian form of ham,
123, 138.
Umber, 418.
United States, names in, 7, 13 — 18,
22 — 28, 37 ; numerous local names
derived from the presidents, 319 ;
barbarous character of the modem
names, 457.
Usquebaugh, 413.
Valleys, substantival components de-
noting them, 48a
Vancouver, Captain, discoveries of,
33.
Vandalism, 435.
Vandal kings, 128.
Vandals, The, 71, 76, 78.
Varangian guard, 156; at Kibotus,
189.
Varini, The, 129.
Varnish, 429.
vatn, Norse root, 17a, 481.
Vaudeville, 432.
v^, Norse, 332.
Vehicles, names of, derived from
places, 427.
Veneti (The), 87 ; traces of; in France,
231.
venta, names of places derived from,
231, 259.
Vemon, Admiral, the introducer of
grog» 413.
vie, root, 139.
Vikmgs, meaning of the word, 161 ;
traces of them, 43 ; their piracies,
171; Hasting, a celebrated one,
189.
villa, 159, 185.
Villages in England with ethnic names,
269; with Saxon patronymic names,
491.
Villain, 443.
ville, suffix, 159, 164, 185, 484.
villiers, 159, 484.
Vine-districts of Germany, saw upon,
412.
Vineyards, their frequency in England
shown by local names, 367.
Virginia, settlement of, 23.
Visigothic kings, 128.
Visigoths of Spain, names derived
froin, 436.
Vitality of local names, 2, 375.
Vocabulary, English, extent of, 3 ; of
the peasant dStss, ib.
voe, suffix, 170.
Volcanoes of Italy, their names evi-
dence of their antiquity, 358.
Voltaic, 431.
wad!, Arabic word, 102, 106^ 107,
480.
Waelsings, The, 128.
wsre, root, 139.
wal, root, 62.
wald, root, 138, 479.
Wales, Celtic names of, 119 ; physical
changes in, indicated by local names,
352.
Wales, local saints of^ places named
after, 339.
Wales, marches of, local names in-
dicating them, 464.
Wales, North, Northmen in, 175.
Wallet, 62.
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Index II, — Matters.
561
Walls of London, streets named after,
272.
Walls, Roman, their course traced by
load names, 257; places named
from, 2^8.
Walnut, 62, 405.
Waltz, 62.
Wanderers, 78, 79, 87.
Wapentakes, counties divided into,
191.
Ward, 121.
ware, suffix, 68, 69.
Warrior races, 81.
Warriors, 87.
Waters, substantival components de-
noting them, 481.
Watling Street, 250 ; was the bound-
ary of the Danelagh, 168.
Wayland Smith, legend of, 327.
WtoJk, 162,
Weald (The), its character indicated
by local names, 360 ; analysis of
its forest-names, 361.
Weapons, names derived from, 82,
140 ; names of, derived from places,
428.
weiler, Teutonic suffix, 159, 185.
Weir, 121.
well or will, suffix, 159, 482.
Wells and conduits, London streets
named from, 279.
Welsh, The, 62—65.
Welsh, name of, referred to the San-
skrit, 61.
Welsh, traced in European names,
62—65.
Welsh language. The, 194, 240.
Wends, The, 43. S^, 79, 87.
wen^, 393, 488.
West, 143.
Westphalia, Saxon names in, 148;
patronymic names in, 496.
WAdk, 62.
WAisfyf 202, 413.
White men, 80.
wich, root, 148.
wick, Anglo-Saxon, an abode, 161,
484.
Avick, Norse root, a creek, 148, 161,
174, 482 ; its occurrence on the
Essex coast, 161.
wiki, Sclavonic, 484.
O
Williams, Archdeacon, on the Celts
in Italy, 41.
Williams, Roger, story of, 14.
Wiltshire, ancient earthworks in, 258.
Wines, derivation of the names of,
410.
WiUA, 332.
Witch mountains of Germany, 328.
with, suffix, 160.
Woden, Anglo-Saxon deity, his great
popularity, evidenced by local
names, 322.
Wo/d, 138.
Wolf (The), places in England named
from, 368.
Woolwich, meaning of, 164.
Words, component, denoting relative
magnitude, 462 ;• position, 462 ;
age, 464; numerals, id. ; natural
productions, 465 ; excellence, or
the reverse, 4^; configuration,
470; colour, 471.
Words derived from places, 402 —
452.
Worsted, 426.
worth, Anglo-Saxon suffix, 121, 124,
486;
worthig, Anglo-Saxon, 121.
Wiirtemberg, patronymic village-
names in, 150, 151, 496.
wy, or gwy, 202 ; river-names derived
from, 205.
Wych house, 162.
wysg, 202.
Yankee, 379.
yard, Anglo-Saxon root, 121, 159,
486.
Veast, 465.
yerde. Old English word, 121.
ynys, Welsh, an island, 352.
Yorkshire, Frisian settlement in, 138,
139.
ys, prefix, a Welsh intensitive, 201.
202.
Zincali, The, 80.
Zouave, 444.
Zurich, Canton, analysis of names in,
49.
O
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